Pierson scores 25 to lead Shock past Liberty





AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP)—Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer was worried that his Shock weren’t ready for the start of the season.
One of his All-Stars—Swin Cash—had been traded to Seattle and two others — Cheryl Ford (knee) and Deanna Nolan (ankle)—started the year at less than 100 percent.
Sunday, though, the Shock beat the New York Liberty 72-62 to improve to 4-1.
“I told our staff that I was afraid we’d start 2-10 with the new players and the injuries,” Laimbeer said. “It feels very good to be 4-1.”
Ford had microfracture surgery in September and only started practicing a week before the opener, while Nolan came to training camp after spraining her ankle in Russia. Both players have been in the lineup, but they are happy to be getting a lot of help from their teammates.

“Right now, everything hurts,” said Nolan, who scored 14 points two days after hyperextending her elbow in a win at Atlanta. “It’s huge that we are 4-1 with everything going on.”
Laimbeer decided before the opener to keep bringing last year’s Sixth Woman of the Year, Plenette Pierson, off the bench despite the problems in the starting lineup. Sunday, Pierson had 25 points, and she leads the team with a 17.0 scoring average.
“Right now, we’re trying to play hard and bide our time until Cheryl and Deanna get back,” she said. “
Detroit improved to 3-0 at home despite only having one starter reach double figures. Kara Braxton added 11 off the bench.
Lisa Willis led New York with 12 points, but starters Loree Moore, Erin Thorn and Janel McCarville combined for only two on 1-of-12 shooting.
“They put me in to shoot the ball,” Willis said. “I’ve got to think shoot first and be aggressive.”
New York missed 18 of its first 20 shots, and committed nine turnovers as the Shock built a 23-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Liberty rallied to pull within 29-19 at the half, but another prolonged scoring drought to start the second half restored the Shock’s big lead. New York missed its first 10 shots of the period, allowing Detroit to go up 41-19.
“We got off to such a slow start, and I’m not really sure why,” New York coach Pat Coyle said. “When you get down like that, you have to make threes to get back in it, and we didn’t.”
The score was 54-29 at period’s end, with Detroit outshooting New York 63 percent to 17 percent in the quarter.
The Liberty, though, started the fourth with a 23-4 run to pull within 58-52 with 5:17 left. Pierson, though, had a basket and an assist on the next two possessions, and the Shock held on to win.
“We always make things hard on ourselves,” Pierson said. “I guess it gets us ready for the playoffs.”

I think the Fever will be their biggest opposition to getting to the finals this year.

Catchings and Douglas will be something to watch on both ends of the floor, and coach Dunn has impressed with her rotation scheme.It's been quite refreshing after watching Flop Flip (Freudian slip) for so long.

I really like Plenette Pierson.

__________________
To all of my friends, comrades and companions at PF.com

Thank you for another great season!

Nice second half by the Shock today to come from behind and beat Indiana. It was very enjoyable to watch. I would love to see more of Lambs next season...

You will, as the Shock coach of course...........

Doh!

What an amazing comeback by the Shock. Down by 7 with 32 seconds left, the Shock outscore Minnesota 11-4 to send the game in overtime. Deanna Nolan nailed two 3-pointers and was fouled shooting another 3-pointer with 4 seconds left. She went 3-for-3 at the line to send the game in OT. Nine points for her in a half minute.

I don't usually watch WNBA, but I'm glad I tuned into the end of this one. Let's see what happens in overtime now.

Deanna Nolan with 44 points to lead the Shock to victory in OT. Anyone else see this the finish to this game? Amazing individual performance by Nolan.

I'm sorry I missed it. The lady's game is fun to watch. They aren't televised as much as I'd like, and over here I only see the Shock if they are playing Indiana, or if they are nationally televised.

I bought the Fox sports package hoping to catch their games and they are all blacked out! I did see 'Horn in rare form getting T'd up against the Sun. lol