Liberty-Shock Preview

Liberty-Shock Preview

Published Jun. 25, 2015 1:33 p.m. ET

Skylar Diggins and the WNBA's top 3-point attack have the Tulsa Shock enjoying their longest winning streak in seven years.

They'll look for a seventh straight victory Friday night when they host the New York Liberty.

Tulsa lost 83-75 at Minnesota in its opener but has won six in a row for the first time since May 21-June 6, 2008. The Shock avenged their lone loss Sunday, winning 86-78 at Minnesota for just their second victory in 22 meetings.

Diggins scored a season-high 26 with eight assists and Tulsa outscored the Lynx 28-21 in the fourth quarter.

ADVERTISEMENT

"The real power of this team is to play being down really early and to sustain a lead toward the end," coach Fred Williams said. "Wow, these ladies just really played hard and played incredible today."

Tulsa hasn't won seven in a row since July 2007.

Diggins is fourth in the league with 17.1 points per game and is hitting 52.6 percent of her 3-pointers. The team's 82.4 points per game trail only Chicago's 88.4, while its 39.2 3-point percentage leads the league. The Shock ranked second-to-last in 2014, shooting 30.4 percent from deep.

The Liberty (4-3) won 73-64 on Sunday at Atlanta with Tina Charles recording 13 points and 12 rebounds for her 100th double-double. At 14.3 points per game, Charles is New York's only player scoring in double digits, but she was 5 for 20 and her 37.2 field-goal percentage is the worst of her career. She shot 46.2 percent in 2014.

Sugar Rodgers added 17 points in her first career start, going 2 for 5 from beyond the arc after starting the season 3 for 24.

"I've been in a shooting slump," Rodgers said. "Good shooters keep shooting. That is what the coaches said - keep shooting and one will fall. Two fell so that was good."

Rookie Brittany Boyd scored a season-high 18 off the bench and Carolyn Swords had 12 on 6-of-8 shooting, helping the Liberty's reserves outscore the Dream's 34-13.

Each of these teams won at home last year with both meetings decided by at least 15 points. Diggins averaged 22.0 points and 6.5 assists, while Charles averaged 26.5 points with 12.0 rebounds.

The Shock have outscored three home opponents by 58 points.

share