The 2016 WNBA season was the 20th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The season began on May 14, on the road against the Washington Mystics. The Liberty started the season with two straight wins, before dropping their final three games in May. Two of there losses came in overtime, and the third came by ten points to Minnesota. They won their first two games of June before dropping a road game against Los Angeles. The Liberty went on a winning streak from there, winning their next six straight games, which included four road wins. The streak was broken with an overtime loss to Phoenix on June 26. The team followed that with an overtime victory over Minnesota to finish the month 9–2. The Liberty won five of their first six games in July, with the only lost coming in Los Angeles. Their victories included three point defeats of Seattle and Chicago. They went 2–2 in their final four games before the Olympic break, losing to Minnesota and Indiana, and defeating Connecticut and Washington. They finished July 7–3, and were 18–8 before the break. They won their first game back against San Antonio 84–77. However, the second half of the season did not go as well for the Liberty, as they went 2–5 in September. They only defeated Phoenix and Connecticut. All of their defeats, except a 84–81 loss to Dallas, came by double digits.
The Liberty finished the season 21–13, which saw them finish in first place in the Eastern Conference. They were the third seed in the 2016 WNBA playoffs and earned a bye into the Second Round. They hosted eighth-seed Phoenix in their Second Round game. The Mercury defeated the Liberty 101–94. The game was within two points in the fourth quarter, but a late surge saw the Mercury pull away. A highlight of the season was Tina Charles sweeping Eastern Conference Player of the Month awards, and winning seven Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards. She was also selected to the All-WNBA First Team while leading the league in scoring and rebounding.
Transactions
WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country 1 12 Adut Bulgak Florida State 2 24 Ameryst Alston Ohio State 3 36 Shacobia Barbee Georgia
Trades/Roster Changes DateDetails February 1, 2016 Signed Shavonte Zellous Re-signed Carolyn Swords March 8, 2016 Signed Swin Cash April 18, 2016 Signed Lindsey Harding May 2, 2016 The Liberty acquired Shoni Schimmel from the Atlanta Dream in exchange for their second round pick in the 2017 WNBA draft. May 11, 2016 The Liberty acquired Amanda Zahui B. and Dallas' second round pick in the 2017 draft in exchange for the Liberty's first round pick in the 2017 draft.
Roster
Source:
Game log
Preseason
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | May 1 | vs. Chicago | L 59–93 | Adut Bulgak (17) | Adut Bulgak (12) | Brittany Boyd-Jones (3) | Bob Carpenter Center3,432 | 0–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | May 5 | Minnesota | L 74–77 | Sugar Rodgers (22) | Avery Warley-Talbert (6) | Alston, Warley-Talbert (2) | Levien Gymnasium1,028 | 0–2
Regular season
|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 1 | May 14 | @ Washington | W 87–76 | Tina Charles (24) | Tina Charles (11) | Lindsey Harding (7) | Capital One Arena11,579 | 1–0 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 2 | May 15 | Dallas | W 79–71 | Charles, Rodgers (24) | Tina Charles (11) | Lindsey Harding (5) | Madison Square Garden10,120 | 2–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 | May 21 | Los Ageles | L 72–79 (OT) | Tina Charles (17) | Tina Charles (16) | Harding, Wright (4) | Madison Square Garden9,417 | 2–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 | May 24 | Atlanta | L 79–85 (OT) | Tina Charles (29) | Carolyn Swords (11) | Tina Charles (6) | Madison Square Garden14,503 | 2–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 5 | May 31 | Minnesota | L 69–79 | Tina Charles (23) | Tina Charles (11) | Tanisha Wright (4) | Madison Square Garden7,356 | 2–3
|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 6 | June 3 | Indiana | W 91–59 | Sugar Rodgers (21) | Kiah Stokes (12) | Tina Charles (6) | Madison Square Garden8,566 | 3–3 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 7 | June 5 | @ Seattle | W 86–78 | Tina Charles (19) | Tina Charles (13) | Sugar Rodgers (5) | KeyArena6,240 | 4–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 8 | June 7 | @ Los Angeles | L 77–100 | Shavonte Zellous (12) | Amanda Zahui B. (8) | Tina Charles (4) | Staples Center7,103 | 4–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 9 | June 11 | @ San Antonio | W 90–75 | Sugar Rodgers (22) | Kiah Stokes (10) | Tina Charles (6) | AT&T Center5,219 | 5–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 10 | June 14 | Dallas | W 91–88 | Tina Charles (28) | Rodgers, Stokes (7) | Tanisha Wright (5) | Madison Square Garden7,939 | 6–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 11 | June 16 | @ Connecticut | W 80–72 | Tina Charles (32) | Kiah Stokes (9) | Tanisha Wright (6) | Mohegan Sun Arena4,786 | 7–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 12 | June 19 | @ Indiana | W 78–75 | Tina Charles (26) | Tina Charles (15) | Tina Charles (6) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse7,440 | 8–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 13 | June 22 | @ Atlanta | W 90–79 | Tina Charles (23) | Charles, Stokes (9) | Tina Charles (10) | Philips Arena10,345 | 9–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 14 | June 24 | Chicago | W 80–79 | Tina Charles (21) | Tina Charles (13) | Charles, Wright (4) | Madison Square Garden10,120 | 10–4 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 15 | June 26 | Phoenix | L 97–104 (OT) | Tina Charles (26) | Charles, Stokes (8) | Wright, Zellous (6) | Madison Square Garden9,591 | 10–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 16 | June 29 | @ Minnesota | W 95–92 (OT) | Sugar Rodgers (30) | Kiah Stokes (11) | Boyd-Jones, Wright, Zellous (3) | Target Center7,721 | 11–5
|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 17 | July 1 | @ Phoenix | W 99–88 | Tina Charles (31) | Tina Charles (10) | Tanisha Wright (6) | Talking Stick Resort Arena11,606 | 12–5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 18 | July 3 | @ Los Angeles | L 67–77 | Tina Charles (27) | Carolyn Swords (11) | Charles, Wright (3) | Staples Center10,003 | 12–6 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 19 | July 6 | Seattle | W 78–74 | Charles, Wright (18) | Kiah Stokes (11) | Sugar Rodgers (7) | Madison Square Garden9,852 | 13–6 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 20 | July 8 | @ Chicago | W 88–85 | Tina Charles (29) | Tina Charles (9) | Tanisha Wright (6) | Allstate Arena5,633 | 14–6 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 21 | July 10 | San Antonio | W 75–65 | Amanda Zahui B. (14) | Carolyn Swords (11) | Brittany Boyd-Jones (4) | Madison Square Garden9,790 | 15–6 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 22 | July 13 | Atlanta | W 86–62 | Tina Charles (18) | Tina Charles (9) | Wright, Zellous (3) | Madison Square Garden11,317 | 16–6 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 23 | July 15 | @ Minnesota | L 70–88 | Tina Charles (15) | Tina Charles (14) | Shavonte Zellous (4) | Target Center8,123 | 16–7 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 24 | July 17 | Connecticut | W 83–76 | Swin Cash (16) | Tina Charles (10) | Charles, Rodgers, Wright (3) | Madison Square Garden9,464 | 17–7 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 25 | July 20 | Washington | W 88–81 | Rebecca Allen (19) | Charles, Zahui B. (9) | Brittany Boyd-Jones (7) | Capital One Arena12,778 | 18–7 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 26 | July 21 | Indiana | L 70–82 | Tina Charles (25) | Tina Charles (13) | Boyd-Jones, Wright (6) | Madison Square Garden11,253 | 18–8
|- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 27 | August 26 | @ San Antonio | W 84–77 | Sugar Rodgers (18) | Tina Charles (10) | Charles, Zellous (4) | AT&T Center6,831 | 19–8
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 28 | September 1 | @ Indiana | L 77–98 | Tina Charles (22) | Tina Charles (11) | Boyd-Jones, Charles (6) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse6,524 | 19–9 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 29 | September 3 | Phoenix | W 92–70 | Tina Charles (23) | Tina Charles (15) | Brittany Boyd-Jones (6) | Madison Square Garden10,026 | 20–9 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 30 | September 7 | Seattle | L 78–102 | Tina Charles (22) | Tina Charles (9) | Tina Charles (7) | Madison Square Garden8,159 | 20–10 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 31 | September 9 | Connecticut | W 89–82 | Tina Charles (23) | Tina Charles (10) | Brittany Boyd-Jones (8) | Madison Square Garden9,482 | 21–10 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 32 | September 11 | @ Dallas | L 81–84 | Tina Charles (29) | Tina Charles (10) | Brittany Boyd-Jones (10) | College Park Center5,662 | 21–11 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 33 | September 13 | Washington | L 62–75 | Tina Charles (22) | Tina Charles (11) | Brittany Boyd-Jones (6) | Madison Square Garden8,345 | 21–12 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 34 | September 16 | @ Chicago | L 68–92 | Cash, Swords (15) | Allen, Swords (8) | Brittany Boyd-Jones (6) | Allstate Arena7,295 | 21–13
Playoffs
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | September 24 | Phoenix | L 94–101 | Tanisha Wright (21) | Tina Charles (9) | Charles, Wright (5) | Madison Square Garden10,227 | 0–1
Standings
Playoffs
Statistics
Regular season
Source:
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Tina Charles 32 32 33.7 43.9% 34.7% 81.2% 9.9 3.8 0.8 0.8 21.5 Sugar Rodgers 33 33 30.5 40.5% 41.3% 84.2% 3.7 2.4 1.1 0.5 14.5 Kiah Stokes 27 0 24.1 64.1% — 62.7% 7.4 0.7 0.7 1.4 6.9 Shavonte Zellous 33 1 23.3 40.3% 19.2% 85.1% 2.5 2.2 0.9 0.2 8.8 Tanisha Wright 29 28 23.0 40.1% 23.5% 71.7% 2.3 3.6 0.9 0.2 6.7 Lindsey Harding 5 3 22.8 32.0% 0.00% 100.0% 2.8 3.6 0.2 0.0 3.6 Brittany Boyd 33 9 19.7 36.1% 16.7% 72.8% 2.5 3.6 1.6 0.1 6.5 Swin Cash 31 23 19.5 37.9% 12.5% 68.3% 3.4 1.4 0.7 0.5 5.3 Carolyn Swords 34 34 17.5 57.1% — 68.6% 4.6 0.7 0.2 0.6 5.2 Epiphanny Prince 6 0 13.8 40.0% 36.4% 100.0% 1.5 0.7 0.3 0.0 5.2 Rebecca Allen 21 6 13.3 45.9% 56.7% 86.7% 1.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 5.7 Amanda Zahui B. 33 1 11.3 44.9% 18.8% 78.7% 3.2 0.4 0.3 0.7 5.0 Shoni Schimmel 17 0 4.5 55.0% 56.3% 80.0% 0.5 0.6 0.2 0.1 2.1 Adut Bulgak 7 0 3.3 45.5% 50.0% 75.0% 1.3 — — — 2.0 Ameryst Alston 1 0 — — — — — — — — —
Awards and honors Recipient Award Date awarded Ref. Tina Charles Peak Performer: Points September 20, 2016 Peak Performer: Rebounds All-WNBA First Team October 14, 2016 Eastern Conference Player of the Month June 2, 2016 July 7, 2016 July 26, 2016 September 20, 2016 Eastern Conference Player of the Week May 23, 2016 June 6, 2016 June 20, 2016 June 27, 2016 July 6, 2016 July 22, 2016 September 5, 2016 Tanisha Wright WNBA All-Defensive Second Team September 30, 2016
References