# 2009 New York Liberty season

The 2009 WNBA season is the 13th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Liberty attempted to advance to the WNBA Playoffs for the tenth time in thirteen seasons, but failed.

## Offseason
### Dispersal Draft

Based on the Liberty's 2008 record, they would pick 8th in the Houston Comets dispersal draft. The Liberty waived their pick.

### WNBA draft

The following are the Liberty's selections in the 2009 WNBA draft.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 8 | Kia Vaughn | United States | Rutgers |
| 2 | 21 | Abby Waner | United States | Duke |

### Transactions

* June 4: The Liberty waived Jessica Davenport and Lisa Willis.
* May 29: The Liberty waived Abby Waner.
* May 5: The Liberty acquired Sidney Spencer from the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for a first round 2010 WNBA Draft pick.
* January 12: The Liberty re-signed free agent Cathrine Kraayeveld.
* May 7, 2008: The Liberty traded their third-round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft to the Phoenix Mercury as part of the Leilani Mitchell transaction.
| Date | Trade | Trade |
| May 7, 2008 | To New York Liberty | To Phoenix Mercury |
| May 7, 2008 | Leilani Mitchell | third-round pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft |
| May 5, 2009 | To New York Liberty | To Los Angeles Sparks |
| May 5, 2009 | Sidney Spencer | first-round pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft |

### Free agents
## Season standings

| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| Indiana Fever $^x$ | 22 | 12 | .647 | – | 14–3 | 8–9 | 17–5 |
| Atlanta Dream $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4.0 | 12–5 | 6–11 | 10–12 |
| Detroit Shock $^x$ | 18 | 16 | .529 | 4.0 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 11–11 |
| Washington Mystics $^x$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 6.0 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 10–12 |
| Chicago Sky $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 6.0 | 12–5 | 4–13 | 10–12 |
| Connecticut Sun $^o$ | 16 | 18 | .471 | 6.0 | 12–5 | 4–13 | 9–12 |
| New York Liberty $^o$ | 13 | 21 | .382 | 9.0 | 8–9 | 5–12 | 8–13 |
$^x$ =Clinched Playoff Spot $^e$ =Eliminated from playoff contention

## Schedule
### Preseason

2009 Game Log: Preseason
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1May 2111:00amWashington77-71Christon (12)McCarville (5)Carson (4)Madison Square Garden 15,9581-0
2May 227:00pm@ Connecticut62-74Davenport (10)Davenport, Jackson (5)McCarville, Mitchell, Spencer (3)Mohegan Sun Arena 5,5781-1
3May 2811:30am@ Washington56-74Battle, Carson (9)Vaughn (7)Mitchell (2)Verizon Center 9,2871-2 :

### Regular season

2009 Game Log: Regular Season :
June
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
1June 74:00pmConnecticutWCTX57-66Christon (13)Kraayeveld (7)Battle, Mitchell (3)Madison Square Garden 13,3970-1
2June 1010:00pm@ Phoenix84-91Carson (18)Kraayeveld, Vaughn (7)McCarville (6)US Airways Center 5,0800-2
3June 138:00pm@ San AntonioNBA TV MSG KMYS60-63Christon (21)McCarville (9)McCarville, Moore (3)AT&T Center 10,5720-3
4June 197:30pmSan AntonioNBA TV MSG77-61McCarville (18)Christon, Jackson, McCarville, Moore (6)Christon (6)Madison Square Garden 8,0461-3
5June 213:00pm@ Atlanta93-81Christon (17)Moore (8)Moore (8)Philips Arena 5,6242-3
6June 238:00pm@ Minnesota57-69Christon (20)Christon, McCarville (6)Moore (2)Target Center 5,6202-4
7June 267:30pmIndiana81-82 (OT)Christon (20)McCarville (9)Moore (6)Madison Square Garden 9,3042-5
8June 277:00pm@ IndianaMSG54-63Carson (14)Jackson (9)Moore (3)Conseco Fieldhouse 8,4812-6 :
July
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
9July 27:30pmDetroitMSG80-64Christon (25)Kraayeveld (5)McCarville (5)Madison Square Garden 8,0183-6
10July 97:30pmLos AngelesMSG60-69McCarville (18)McCarville (6)McCarville (3)Madison Square Garden 12,2473-7
11July 117:30pmAtlanta71-69Christon (18)McCarville (7)Moore (6)Madison Square Garden 8,7324-7
12July 187:00pm@ Washington67-68Christon (21)Moore (5)Moore (9)Verizon Center 9,9684-8
13July 194:00pmAtlanta89-86Christon (32)Christon (8)Mitchell (6)Madison Square Garden 8,5605-8
14July 2212:30pm@ Chicago77-70Spencer (15)Kraayeveld (8)Moore (4)UIC Pavilion 5,8816-8
15July 237:30pmSacramentoMSG73-88Carson (20)Carson (5)Moore (4)Madison Square Garden 8,8456-9
16July 264:00pmPhoenix88-94Christon (21)McCarville (10)Moore, Spencer (3)Madison Square Garden 11,2116-10
17July 307:30pmWashingtonNBA TV MSG75-78McCarville (28)McCarville (6)McCarville, Mitchell, Moore (3)Madison Square Garden 10,1726-11 :
August
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
18August 17:00pm@ AtlantaNBA TV MSG83-89Christon (23)Carson, Christon (8)McCarville (6)Philips Arena 6,1036-12
19August 47:30pm@ DetroitESPN264-76Christon (14)Christon, Jackson, McCarville (4)7 players (1)Palace of Auburn Hills 7,0146-13
20August 710:00pm@ Sacramento84-66McCarville (18)Jackson (6)McCarville (5)ARCO Arena 6,2847-13
21August 810:00pm@ Seattle69-70McCarville (22)Christon (9)Moore (5)KeyArena 7,4967-14
22August 119:00pm@ Los AngelesESPN265-61Christon (11)Christon, Moore (6)Christon, Moore (5)STAPLES Center 9,5488-14
23August 147:30pmChicagoNBA TV MSG CN10077-88Christon (25)Christon (10)Moore (6)Madison Square Garden 9,8328-15
24August 164:00pm@ Washington60-59McCarville (19)Kraayeveld (6)Moore (5)Verizon Center 10,5809-15
25August 197:00pm@ Connecticut69-74Kraayeveld (13)McCarville (9)Mitchell (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,0509-16
26August 217:30pmConnecticutNBA TV MSG85-83 (OT)Christon (23)McCarville (13)Moore (5)Madison Square Garden 9,35510-16
27August 234:00pmMinnesota80-67Christon (24)Jackson (7)Moore (6)Madison Square Garden 8,48111-16
28August 288:30pm@ ChicagoNBA TV MSG CN10077-96Jackson (16)Vaughn (9)Christon (6)UIC Pavilion 3,70711-17
29August 304:00pmChicago77-63Christon (18)Kraayeveld (13)Moore (5)Madison Square Garden 8,68512-17 :
September
GameDateTime (ET)OpponentTVScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation/AttendanceRecord
30September 17:30pmSeattle58-65Kraayeveld (14)Kraayeveld (9)Moore (4)Madison Square Garden 8,46912-18
31September 47:00pm@ ConnecticutNBA TV MSG85-88 (OT)Christon (22)Moore (8)Moore (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,68512-19
32September 87:30pmIndiana63-69Carson (17)Larkins, Mitchell (6)Mitchell (6)Madison Square Garden 7,58312-20
33September 107:30pm@ DetroitNBA TV MSG87-94 (OT)Carson (28)Battle, Vaughn (4)Moore (6)Palace of Auburn Hills 8,17812-21
34September 134:00pmWashingtonMSG86-65Carson (17)Jackson, Kraayeveld (5)Mitchell (6)Madison Square Garden 15,66713-21 :
All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess :

## Regular Season Statistics
### Player statistics

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Ashley Battle | 34 | 3 | 16.1 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.91 | 0.06 | 5.2 |
| Essence Carson | 34 | 34 | 25.3 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 1.09 | 0.29 | 10.0 |
| Shameka Christon | 32 | 31 | 31.7 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 0.88 | 0.84 | 16.1 |
| Tiffany Jackson | 34 | 9 | 14.6 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 0.62 | 0.38 | 5.3 |
| Cathrine Kraayeveld | 34 | 26 | 26.1 | 4.6 | 0.9 | 0.65 | 0.38 | 9.0 |
| Erlana Larkins | 18 | 0 | 7.6 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.50 | 0.22 | 2.4 |
| Janel McCarville | 32 | 32 | 26.5 | 5.5 | 2.8 | 1.28 | 1.38 | 12.3 |
| Leilani Mitchell | 34 | 2 | 12.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.26 | 0.06 | 2.4 |
| Loree Moore | 34 | 32 | 27.7 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 1.94 | 0.06 | 6.3 |
| Sidney Spencer | 33 | 0 | 10.3 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.18 | 0.03 | 3.0 |
| Kia Vaughn | 34 | 1 | 11.6 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 0.18 | 0.09 | 4.8 |

### Team statistics

| Team | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| New York Liberty | .415 | .358 | .787 | 31.8 | 15.5 | 8.1 | 3.6 | 16.0 | 18.7 | 73.9 |
| Opponents | .420 | .347 | .789 | 35.4 | 14.2 | 7.9 | 3.6 | 16.1 | 17.4 | 74.6 |

## Awards and honors

* Shameka Christon was named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of July 13, 2009.
* Shameka Christon was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Star Team as an Eastern Conference reserve.
* July 25, 2009: Teresa Weatherspoon, who led the New York Liberty to three WNBA finals, will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, leading a class of six inductees.