# 2018 New York Liberty season

The 2018 WNBA season is the 22nd season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The season tips off on May 20. During the off-season the Liberty hired Katie Smith as head coach. Smith replaced Bill Laimbeer, who left to coach the Las Vegas Aces. It was also announced in the offseason that the team would play its home games at the Westchester County Center.
The 2018 season ended up being a difficult one for the Liberty. After having achieved a 22-win season in 2017, the team could only muster 7 wins in 2018. The team started 1–2 in May, but quickly fell behind the playoff pace going 3–9 in June. Things did not improve in July when the team went 3–7. The team finished the season on a thirteen-game losing streak, including an 0–9 August to finish the season 7–27. This was the franchise's worst record in its history. The previous worst was 11–23 in 2013.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 10 | Kia Nurse | Canada | Connecticut |
| 2 | 22 | Mercedes Russell | United States | Tennessee |
| 3 | 34 | Leslie Robinson | United States | Princeton |

### Trades/Roster Changes

| Date | Details |
| February 9, 2018 | Re-Signed G Bria Hartley |
| February 9, 2018 | Re-Signed C Kia Vaughn |
| February 9, 2018 | Re-Signed F Rebecca Allen |
| February 9, 2018 | Re-Signed G Lindsay Allen |
| May 1, 2018 | Signed G Marissa Coleman |

## Game log
### Pre-season

2018 pre-season game log :
May: 1–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 7
vs. Dallas
L 69–76
Coleman (14)
Tied (4)
Zellous (4)
Mohegan Sun Arena
0–1
2
May 8
vs. Los Angeles
W 81–75
Nurse (19)
Gray (14)
4 Tied (3)
Mohegan Sun Arena 1,106
1–1 :
2018 pre-season schedule :

### Regular season

2018 game log Total: 7–27 (Home: 4–13; Road: 3–14) :
May: 1–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 20
@ Chicago
L 76–80
Charles (19)
Zahui B. (7)
Hartley (6)
Wintrust Arena 7,922
0–1
2
May 25
Minnesota
L 72–78
Charles (18)
Charles (12)
Hartley (3)
Westchester County Center 2,315
0–2
3
May 29
Dallas
W 94–89
Charles (34)
Charles (10)
Zellous (9)
Westchester County Center 1,516
1–2 :
June
: 3–9 (Home: 2–5; Road: 1–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
4
June 2
@ Indiana
W 87–81
Nurse (34)
Stokes (12)
Tied (4)
Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,575
2–2
5
June 5
Phoenix
L 74–80
Charles (25)
Tied (8)
Hartley (5)
Madison Square Garden 7,215
2–3
6
June 7
Connecticut
L 86–88
Charles (24)
Charles (9)
Zellous (7)
Westchester County Center 1,581
2–4
7
June 10
Indiana
W 78–75
Rodgers (16)
Tied (4)
4 Tied (3)
Westchester County Center 1,537
3–4
8
June 13
Las Vegas
L 63–78
Charles (19)
Coleman (5)
Coleman (5)
Westchester County Center 1,419
3–5
9
June 16
@ Minnesota
L 71–85
Charles (12)
Tied (4)
Hartley (6)
Target Center 9,114
3–6
10
June 19
Atlanta
W 79–72
Charles (29)
Vaughn (9)
Boyd (11)
Westchester County Center 1,627
4–6
11
June 22
@ Las Vegas
L 78–88
Tied (14)
Charles (8)
3 Tied (5)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 5,478
4–7
12
June 24
@ Los Angeles
54–80
Zahui B (21)
Boyd (6)
Boyd (8)
Staples Center 9,203
4–8
13
June 26
Phoenix
L 69–83
Charles (12)
Charles (8)
Boyd (7)
Westchester County Center 1,839
4–9
14
June 28
@ Washington
L 77–80
Prince (21)
Charles (7)
Charles (6)
Capital One Arena 4,473
4–10
15
June 29
Chicago
L 99–103
Charles (24)
Stokes (5)
Prince (5)
Westchester County Center 1,837
4–11 :
July
: 3–7 (Home: 1–3; Road: 2–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
16
July 1
@ Chicago
W 97–94 (OT)
Charles (28)
Vaughn (11)
Boyd (5)
Wintrust Arena 5,382
5–11
17
July 3
Seattle
L 62–77
Hartley (16)
Zellous (7)
3 Tied (4)
Westchester County Center 1,749
5–12
18
July 5
@ Washington
L 67–86
Charles (26)
Charles (12)
Hartley (7)
Capital One Arena 4,674
5–13
19
July 8
Dallas
L 87–97
Charles (26)
Charles (9)
Boyd (5)
Westchester County Center 1,719
5–14
20
July 11
@ Connecticut
W 79–76
Charles (19)
Charles (11)
Boyd (8)
Mohegan Sun Arena 7,413
6–14
21
July 15
Chicago
W 107–84
Charles (21)
Vaughn (7)
Boyd (10)
Westchester County Center 2,073
7–14
22
July 17
@ Dallas
L 87–104
Nurse (25)
Charles (6)
Tied (4)
College Park Center 6,459
7–15
23
July 19
@ Atlanta
L 68–82
Charles (11)
Boyd (7)
Boyd (10)
McCamish Pavilion 3,074
7–16
24
July 21
Washington
L 78–95
Charles (22)
Charles (5)
Hartley (6)
Westchester County Center 2,005
7–17
25
July 24
@ Minnesota
L 82–85
Charles (32)
Charles (15)
Boyd (9)
Target Center 9,830
7–18 :
August
: 0–9 (Home: 0–4; Road: 0–5)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
26
August 1
@ Connecticut
L 77–92
Rodgers (16)
Vaughn (7)
Boyd (8)
Mohegan Sun Arena 6,412
7–19
27
August 4
Indiana
L 55–68
Charles (11)
Charles (10)
Charles (4)
Westchester County Center 2,225
7–20
28
August 6
Seattle
L 80–96
Tied (20)
Zahui B. (11)
Boyd (7)
Madison Square Garden 12,488
7–21
29
August 8
Los Angeles
L 81–82
Charles (27)
Stokes (11)
Boyd (7)
Westchester County Center 2,481
7–22
30
August 12
Atlanta
L 77–86
Charles (26)
Stokes (10)
Charles (5)
Westchester County Center 2,362
7–23
21
August 14
@ Los Angeles
L 66–74
Charles (21)
Vaughn (8)
Tied (4)
Staples Center 11,067
7–24
32
August 15
@ Las Vegas
L 72–85
Tied (14)
Stokes (11)
Boyd (6)
Mandalay Bay Events Center 7,159
7–25
33
August 17
@ Seattle
L 77–85
Charles (21)
Stokes (15)
Boyd (5)
KeyArena 10,873
7–26
34
August 19
@ Phoenix
L 85–96
Nurse (28)
Stokes (9)
Boyd (7)
Talking Stick Resort Arena 13,106
7–27 :
2018 season schedule :

## Standings

| # | Eastern Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| 1 | Atlanta Dream (2) | 23 | 11 | .676 | – | 13–4 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 2 | Washington Mystics (3) | 22 | 12 | .647 | 1 | 12–5 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 3 | Connecticut Sun (4) | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2 | 13–4 | 8–9 | 9–7 |
| 4 | e – Chicago Sky | 13 | 21 | .382 | 10 | 7–10 | 6–11 | 6–10 |
| 5 | e – New York Liberty | 7 | 27 | .206 | 16 | 4–13 | 3–14 | 6–10 |
| 6 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 28 | .176 | 17 | 2–15 | 4–13 | 3–13 |

## Statistics
### Regular season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Tina Charles | 33 | 33 | 33.0 | 47.3 | 32.6 | 77.0 | 7.0 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 19.7 |
| Kia Nurse | 34 | 7 | 22.8 | 40.2 | 29.4 | 87.0 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 9.1 |
| Bria Hartley | 34 | 20 | 23.7 | 38.9 | 30.8 | 70.8 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 8.5 |
| Epiphanny Prince | 16 | 12 | 19.1 | 39.3 | 41.9 | 87.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 8.4 |
| Shavonte Zellous | 22 | 22 | 24.1 | 42.3 | 26.7 | 75.4 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 8.2 |
| Amanda Zahui B. | 29 | 0 | 15.9 | 50.0 | 34.4 | 60.5 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 7.7 |
| Brittany Boyd | 30 | 14 | 19.6 | 41.4 | 37.0 | 77.4 | 3.9 | 5.3 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 6.4 |
| Sugar Rodgers | 31 | 13 | 19.6 | 36.2 | 32.3 | 82.6 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 6.3 |
| Kia Vaughn | 29 | 27 | 18.3 | 53.3 | 0.0 | 64.3 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 5.7 |
| Marissa Coleman | 21 | 18 | 18.3 | 34.8 | 27.9 | 100 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 4.7 |
| Rebecca Allen | 28 | 0 | 10.4 | 37.6 | 26.3 | 84.0 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 3.8 |
| Kiah Stokes | 30 | 4 | 14.2 | 54.5 | 0.0 | 53.3 | 4.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 3.1 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
| Tina Charles | WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week | June 4, 2018 | |
| Tina Charles | WNBA All-Star Selection | July 17, 2018 | |