Already down one starter, the Dream could ill afford to lose another.
But that’s exactly what happened with 4:40 left to play Tuesday night at Philips Arena. Starting guard Lindsey Harding fell to the floor and left the game — and with it went the Dream’s (4-7) chance at a victory, as they lost 73-60 to the New York Liberty.
After the game, Harding left the locker room on crutches. Dream coach Marynell Meadors did not know the extent of Harding’s injury, other than to say it dealt with “an ankle.”
Meadors had more to say about the play of her team, which shot a season-worst 35.3 percent (24-for-68) from the field and tied a season-low for points in the defeat.
“We just played a poor game. We just played so disconnected at times and had some injuries that really hurt us,” she said. “We allowed them to take open shots, and they knocked them down. They’re a good team.
“I don’t know how they got to be 3-7, but maybe they’ve got things together.”
For the second consecutive game, the Dream played without their star, Angel McCoughtry, who sat out nursing a sprained left MCL. And for the second consecutive game, an opponent’s star posted a double-double, as the Liberty’s (4-7) Cappie Pondexter tied for top scoring honors with 14 and dished out 13 assists, nearly doubling her previous season-high of seven against the Washington Mystics on June 8.
But Pondexter was one of a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Liberty, joined by fellow starters Essence Carson (14), Kia Vaughn (12) and Leilani Mitchell (10). All 10 players who played for New York made at least one field-goal attempt, part of a season-best 50.8 percent (31-of-61) shooting performance and well above their average of 41 percent.
Despite outrebounding the Liberty 38-28, Meadors lamented that her team could not convert more second-chance opportunities.
“I thought we did better going to the offensive boards, but we’d rebound and we wouldn’t put the shots down,” she said.
One bright spot for the Dream was the play of Cathrine Kraayeveld, who came off the bench and scored nine points, her second-best total this season. She was at her best in the third quarter, as she teamed with Sancho Lyttle to score 16 of the team’s 19 points in the period, helping the Dream trim what was once a 13-point deficit to 52-49 at the 2:18 mark.
But the Liberty responded immediately, ending the quarter on a 6-0 run, punctuated by Pondexter’s jump shot over the outstretched arm of Kraayeveld just before the buzzer, to put the Dream in a 58-49 hole at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Dream’s inability to hold on to the basketball was costly early on, as they ended with more turnovers (eight) than field goals (seven) in the first quarter. The Dream finished with 16 turnovers, and the Liberty took advantage of the carelessness, scoring 16 points off giveaways.
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