Three OTs later, Liberty win preseason debut

Someone forgot to tell the Liberty and Connecticut Sun that Tuesday's matinee was a preseason game.

Or at least that's how it seemed as it took two hours and 52 minutes for the Liberty to beat the Sun, 89-84, in triple overtime. It marked just the second time in league history that a preseason game has gone three overtimes. Phoenix and Detroit also played a triple overtime preseason game on May 27, 2000.

Cappie Pondexter, playing her first game in a Liberty uniform, scored 14 points to lead the team along with Kalana Greene, who came off the bench to also score 14.

Pondexter, playing with five fouls, also made a huge defensive play with 22.8 seconds left in the second overtime when she blocked a layup by Kara Lawson that would have given the Sun a four-point lead. She then fed the ball to former Rutgers teammate Essence Carson, who made the layup that tied the game at 81 and sent it into its third overtime.

Said coach Anne Donovan: "We said we wanted to score in the eighties this year. That was our goal. It just took us three overtimes to get there."