2018 New York Liberty season

The 2018 WNBA season is the 22nd season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The season tips off on May 20.^[1] During the off-season the Liberty hired Katie Smith as head coach. Smith replaced Bill Laimbeer, who left to coach the Las Vegas Aces.^[2] It was also announced in the offseason that the team would play its home games at the Westchester County Center.^[3]

2018 New York Liberty season
Coach	Katie Smith
Arena	Westchester County Center
Attendance	2,823 per game
Results
Record	7–27 (.206)
Place	5th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Team Leaders
Points	Tina Charles - 19.7 ppg
Rebounds	Tina Charles - 7.0 rpg
Assists	Brittany Boyd - 5.3 apg
Media
Television	MSG Network (MSG), MSG Plus (MSG+)
← 2017 season 2019 season →

The 2018 season ended up being a difficult one for the Liberty. After having achieved a 22-win season in 2017, the team could only muster 7 wins in 2018. The team started 1–2 in May, but quickly fell behind the playoff pace going 3–9 in June. Things did not improve in July when the team went 3–7. The team finished the season on a thirteen-game losing streak, including an 0–9 August to finish the season 7–27. This was the franchise's worst record in its history. The previous worst was 11–23 in 2013.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2018 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	10	Kia Nurse	Canada	Connecticut
2	22	Mercedes Russell	United States	Tennessee
3	34	Leslie Robinson	United States	Princeton

Trades/Roster Changes

Date	Details
February 9, 2018	Re-Signed G Bria Hartley[4]
February 9, 2018	Re-Signed C Kia Vaughn[4]
February 9, 2018	Re-Signed F Rebecca Allen[4]
February 9, 2018	Re-Signed G Lindsay Allen[4]
May 1, 2018	Signed G Marissa Coleman[5]

Roster

2018 New York Liberty roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 9 Allen, Rebecca 6' 2" (1.88m) 162 lb (73kg) 11-06-1992 Australia 3 G 15 Boyd, Brittany 5' 9" (1.75m) 156 lb (71kg) 06-11-1993 California 3 F/C 31 Charles, Tina 6' 4" (1.93m) 192 lb (87kg) 12-05-1988 Connecticut 8 G/F 0 Coleman, Marissa 6' 1" (1.85m) 160 lb (73kg) 01-04-1987 Maryland 9 G 8 Hartley, Bria 5' 8" (1.73m) 148 lb (67kg) 09-30-1992 Connecticut 4 G 5 Nurse, Kia 6' 0" (1.83m) – 02-22-1996 Connecticut R G 10 Prince, Epiphanny 5' 9" (1.75m) 179 lb (81kg) 01-11-1988 Rutgers 8 G 14 Rodgers, Sugar 5' 9" (1.75m) 161 lb (73kg) 12-08-1989 Georgetown 5 C 41 Stokes, Kiah 6' 3" (1.91m) 191 lb (87kg) 03-30-1993 Connecticut 3 C 7 Vaughn, Kia 6' 4" (1.93m) 205 lb (93kg) 01-24-1987 Rutgers 9 C 17 Zahui B., Amanda 6' 5" (1.96m) 250 lb (113kg) 09-08-1993 Minnesota 3 G 1 Zellous, Shavonte 5' 10" (1.78m) 188 lb (85kg) 08-28-1986 Pittsburgh 9	Head coach Katie Smith (Ohio State) Assistant coaches Herb Williams (Ohio State) Barbara Farris (Tulane) Athletic trainer Chantal Hart Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

Game log

Pre-season

2018 pre-season game log
May: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 7 vs. Dallas L 69–76 Coleman (14) Tied (4) Zellous (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 0–1 2 May 8 vs. Los Angeles W 81–75 Nurse (19) Gray (14) 4 Tied (3) Mohegan Sun Arena 1,106 1–1
2018 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2018 game log Total: 7–27 (Home: 4–13; Road: 3–14)
May: 1–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 20 @ Chicago L 76–80 Charles (19) Zahui B. (7) Hartley (6) Wintrust Arena 7,922 0–1 2 May 25 Minnesota L 72–78 Charles (18) Charles (12) Hartley (3) Westchester County Center 2,315 0–2 3 May 29 Dallas W 94–89 Charles (34) Charles (10) Zellous (9) Westchester County Center 1,516 1–2
June : 3–9 (Home: 2–5; Road: 1–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 June 2 @ Indiana W 87–81 Nurse (34) Stokes (12) Tied (4) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,575 2–2 5 June 5 Phoenix L 74–80 Charles (25) Tied (8) Hartley (5) Madison Square Garden 7,215 2–3 6 June 7 Connecticut L 86–88 Charles (24) Charles (9) Zellous (7) Westchester County Center 1,581 2–4 7 June 10 Indiana W 78–75 Rodgers (16) Tied (4) 4 Tied (3) Westchester County Center 1,537 3–4 8 June 13 Las Vegas L 63–78 Charles (19) Coleman (5) Coleman (5) Westchester County Center 1,419 3–5 9 June 16 @ Minnesota L 71–85 Charles (12) Tied (4) Hartley (6) Target Center 9,114 3–6 10 June 19 Atlanta W 79–72 Charles (29) Vaughn (9) Boyd (11) Westchester County Center 1,627 4–6 11 June 22 @ Las Vegas L 78–88 Tied (14) Charles (8) 3 Tied (5) Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,478 4–7 12 June 24 @ Los Angeles 54–80 Zahui B (21) Boyd (6) Boyd (8) Staples Center 9,203 4–8 13 June 26 Phoenix L 69–83 Charles (12) Charles (8) Boyd (7) Westchester County Center 1,839 4–9 14 June 28 @ Washington L 77–80 Prince (21) Charles (7) Charles (6) Capital One Arena 4,473 4–10 15 June 29 Chicago L 99–103 Charles (24) Stokes (5) Prince (5) Westchester County Center 1,837 4–11
July : 3–7 (Home: 1–3; Road: 2–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 16 July 1 @ Chicago W 97–94 (OT) Charles (28) Vaughn (11) Boyd (5) Wintrust Arena 5,382 5–11 17 July 3 Seattle L 62–77 Hartley (16) Zellous (7) 3 Tied (4) Westchester County Center 1,749 5–12 18 July 5 @ Washington L 67–86 Charles (26) Charles (12) Hartley (7) Capital One Arena 4,674 5–13 19 July 8 Dallas L 87–97 Charles (26) Charles (9) Boyd (5) Westchester County Center 1,719 5–14 20 July 11 @ Connecticut W 79–76 Charles (19) Charles (11) Boyd (8) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,413 6–14 21 July 15 Chicago W 107–84 Charles (21) Vaughn (7) Boyd (10) Westchester County Center 2,073 7–14 22 July 17 @ Dallas L 87–104 Nurse (25) Charles (6) Tied (4) College Park Center 6,459 7–15 23 July 19 @ Atlanta L 68–82 Charles (11) Boyd (7) Boyd (10) McCamish Pavilion 3,074 7–16 24 July 21 Washington L 78–95 Charles (22) Charles (5) Hartley (6) Westchester County Center 2,005 7–17 25 July 24 @ Minnesota L 82–85 Charles (32) Charles (15) Boyd (9) Target Center 9,830 7–18
August : 0–9 (Home: 0–4; Road: 0–5) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 26 August 1 @ Connecticut L 77–92 Rodgers (16) Vaughn (7) Boyd (8) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,412 7–19 27 August 4 Indiana L 55–68 Charles (11) Charles (10) Charles (4) Westchester County Center 2,225 7–20 28 August 6 Seattle L 80–96 Tied (20) Zahui B. (11) Boyd (7) Madison Square Garden 12,488 7–21 29 August 8 Los Angeles L 81–82 Charles (27) Stokes (11) Boyd (7) Westchester County Center 2,481 7–22 30 August 12 Atlanta L 77–86 Charles (26) Stokes (10) Charles (5) Westchester County Center 2,362 7–23 21 August 14 @ Los Angeles L 66–74 Charles (21) Vaughn (8) Tied (4) Staples Center 11,067 7–24 32 August 15 @ Las Vegas L 72–85 Tied (14) Stokes (11) Boyd (6) Mandalay Bay Events Center 7,159 7–25 33 August 17 @ Seattle L 77–85 Charles (21) Stokes (15) Boyd (5) KeyArena 10,873 7–26 34 August 19 @ Phoenix L 85–96 Nurse (28) Stokes (9) Boyd (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena 13,106 7–27
2018 season schedule

Standings

#	Eastern Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Atlanta Dream (2)	23	11	.676	–	13–4	10–7	12–4
2	Washington Mystics (3)	22	12	.647	1	12–5	10–7	12–4
3	Connecticut Sun (4)	21	13	.618	2	13–4	8–9	9–7
4	e – Chicago Sky	13	21	.382	10	7–10	6–11	6–10
5	e – New York Liberty	7	27	.206	16	4–13	3–14	6–10
6	e – Indiana Fever	6	28	.176	17	2–15	4–13	3–13

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tina Charles	33	33	33.0	47.3	32.6	77.0	7.0	2.7	0.7	0.6	19.7
Kia Nurse	34	7	22.8	40.2	29.4	87.0	2.4	1.6	0.7	0.1	9.1
Bria Hartley	34	20	23.7	38.9	30.8	70.8	2.9	3.6	0.9	0.1	8.5
Epiphanny Prince	16	12	19.1	39.3	41.9	87.5	1.6	1.7	0.9	0.0	8.4
Shavonte Zellous	22	22	24.1	42.3	26.7	75.4	3.1	3.0	0.6	0.2	8.2
Amanda Zahui B.	29	0	15.9	50.0	34.4	60.5	3.0	0.7	0.4	0.4	7.7
Brittany Boyd	30	14	19.6	41.4	37.0	77.4	3.9	5.3	1.2	0.1	6.4
Sugar Rodgers	31	13	19.6	36.2	32.3	82.6	3.2	2.0	0.7	0.1	6.3
Kia Vaughn	29	27	18.3	53.3	0.0	64.3	4.0	0.7	0.7	0.2	5.7
Marissa Coleman	21	18	18.3	34.8	27.9	100	2.4	1.0	0.5	0.2	4.7
Rebecca Allen	28	0	10.4	37.6	26.3	84.0	1.7	0.3	0.3	0.4	3.8
Kiah Stokes	30	4	14.2	54.5	0.0	53.3	4.5	0.4	0.4	0.6	3.1

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Tina Charles	WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week	June 4, 2018	[6]
	WNBA All-Star Selection	July 17, 2018	[7]

References

1. "2018 New York Liberty Schedule". Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
2. "Katie Smith Named New York Liberty Head Coach". New York Liberty. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
3. "MSG to Operate Liberty While Continuing to Pursue Sale, Westchester County Center to Serve as Team's Primary Home for 2018". New York Liberty. February 8, 2018.
4. "Liberty Re-Signs Kia Vaughn and Bria Hartley". liberty.wnba.com. February 9, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
5. "New York Liberty Sign Nine-Year Veteran Marissa Coleman". liberty.wnba.com. May 1, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
6. "Tina Charles, Liz Cambage Named Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
7. "2018 WNBA All-Stars Announced; Elena Delle Donne, Candace Parker To Serve As Player-Captains". wnba.com. WNBA. July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.

External links

• The Official Site of the New York Liberty