Liberty stumbles, but Allen on way

Bec Allen is officially back in the Big Apple, but her return doesn’t come in time to keep the Liberty from losing its third straight game, 81-71, to the Dallas Wings Sunday in Brooklyn.

The 6-2 Liberty guard returned from her overseas commitment with Valencia Basket Club and was in town on Sunday, according to coach Sandy Brondello. She won’t start to get minutes in games until Tuesday’s rematch with the Connecticut Sun, which will mean a quick turnaround for Allen.

Brondello expected that transition to be fairly easy, given Allen’s familiarity with her style, since Allen played with the Australian women’s national team, which Brondello coaches.

“Some things will be familiar, so it will be an easy integration, just be remembering some of the stuff,” Brondello said. “It’ll be nice to have a player of her caliber on the bench . ... So excited to have Bec back.”

The minutes Allen gets Tuesday will provide Brondello with a better look as how her team is shaping up, especially after losing

DiDi Richards for longer than anticipated. Richards re-aggravated her right hamstring during Friday’s loss to the Indiana Fever and will be out until she is 100% healthy and ready to go.

Allen’s return couldn’t have come at a better time for the struggling Liberty (1-3).

“She just gives us another option,” Brondello said. “You look at Dallas, they can come at you in so many different ways, but Bec’s another one that can shoot and stretch the floor out a little bit, but also make a play off the dribble.”

Asked what the teams needs to improve, Brondello said: “I think its more about getting chemistry. We gotta trudge through the mud at the moment. It’s not where we want to be, but we are, so we gotta use this as a learning thing in how we need to play to get better.”

Brondello said she’s looking forward to the week in between the Liberty’s games against the Sun and the Minnesota Lynx (Tuesday, May 24) because that’s when she’ll have the time to figure out how all her players fit.

“We haven’t had our full group together one time in training camp,” Brondello said. “So I’m still trying to work out how all the pieces fit together.”