New York Liberty: Tina Charles chases history during losing streak

The New York Liberty are still dealing with a losing streak, but continue to be propelled by All-Star Tina Charles as she rewrites the record books.

A new season always breathes new hope into a team rebuilding after a disappointing campaign the year prior. The 2019 New York Liberty are restocked with a mixture of proven veterans and young highly touted players seeking to reverse the fortunes of last season’s dismal 7-27 record.

The new roster spearheaded on the court by perennial WNBA All-Star forward Tina Charles began 2019 with back to back games against the Indiana Fever. Charles led the Liberty charge throughout the home opening 81-80 loss. She poured in a game-high 32 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Her two clutch free throws gave the Liberty a one-point advantage late in the fourth quarter with only seven seconds remaining.

After the game, Charles focused on the positives from the loss and commending this year’s number three pick overall, Teaira McCowan for her clutch play.

"“We came out and played hard. We jumped on them but then we died down a bit. The turnovers hurt us; I think they had 16 points off turnovers. Then us just boxing out, (Teaira) McCowan did a really good job of getting offensive rebounds. Bria Hartley gave us a great spark and Reshanda Gray played great and it’s good to see her back in the WNBA.”"

The following game against Indiana didn’t get much better as the Liberty were trounced 92-77, this time on the road. Charles scored 15 points to once again lead the team. Additionally, her point total on the night helped her pass Angel McCoughtry on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list. Charles now stands alone at 15th overall in league scoring and only 19 points away from becoming the Liberty’s all-time scoring leader.

https://twitter.com/nyliberty/status/1134985967675367424

Charles is already a two-time Olympic gold medalist and 2012 league MVP during her 10 seasons in the WNBA. The opportunity to pass former Liberty great Vickie Johnson for the franchise scoring record would be monumental for the Queens, New York native.

The Liberty begin the 2019 season winless after two games continuing a streak of fifteen overall, which dates back to last season. As Charles, continues to etch her name into women’s basketball history, the team needs to find a way to pull together a pickup wins as the season progresses.