Liberty use balanced offense to beat Stars 73-64 in opener

NEW YORK » Tina Charles scored 12 points and Epiphanny Prince had 11 to help the New York Liberty beat the short-handed San Antonio Stars 73- 64 on Saturday in the season opener for both teams.

Cierra Burdick added 10 points, and the Liberty played strong defense and slowly pulled away.

The Stars were missing top pick Kelsey Plum, who sprained her right ankle last week. She was still in a walking boot and the team is hopeful she’ll be back soon. San Antonio also was missing Moriah Jefferson. The No. 2 pick in last season’s draft was sidelined with right knee soreness.

Without their stellar young backcourt, Monique Currie picked up the scoring. She had 23 points to lead the Stars. Isabelle Harrison added 15.

The game marked the head coaching debut of Vickie Johnson, who started her career in New York as a player when the WNBA debuted in 1997. She spent nine years in New York before going to San Antonio as a player. She then became an assistant coach for the Stars before being promoted before this season.

New York finally had its entire roster together this week. Kiah Stokes and Shavonte Zellous missed most of the preseason while playing in the Turkish League playoffs. Prince was also a late arrival while she completed her Russian League season.

Prince sparked the Liberty, turning an 11- 9 advantage into a 37-28 halftime lead. New York slowly pulled away in the third quarter, scoring seven straight points to go up 50-35 on Zellous’ layup off a nifty length of the court pass from Brittany Boyd. The lead grew to 17 at the end of the third quarter before San Antonio cut it to nine on Currie’s three-point play midway through the fourth quarter.

Boyd then had four straight points and the Stars couldn’t get within nine the rest of the way. TIP-INS:

STARS: Johnson starred for the Liberty from 19972005 and is the team’s career leader in scoring (3,246), rebounding (1,053) and games (282). New York honored her with a video tribute midway through the second quarter. John- son cracked a smile coming out of the timeout and waved to the fans. ... San Antonio was 17 for 29 from the free throw line.

LIBERTY: New York was picked third in the preseason AP WNBA power poll. ... The Liberty have won three consecutive home openers.

UP NEXT:

New York hosts Minnesota on Thursday.

San Antonio completes a back-to-back in Washington on Sunday.