Fever's McCowan sinks Liberty with buzzer-beater
Rookie Teaira McCowan canned a jumper as time expired Friday night, lifting the Indiana Fever to an 81-80 win over the New York Liberty in each team's WNBA season opener at Westchester County Center in White Plains, N.Y.
McCowan, who finished with 11 points in her pro debut, took a pass from Candice Dupree and hit the shot that gave the worst team in the league last year some much-needed early success. The play survived a mandatory video review.
A Mississippi State product, McCowan was the No. 3 overall pick in this year's WNBA draft.
Tiffany Mitchell came off the bench to score 22 points for Indiana, going 13 of 14 at the foul line. Erica Wheeler added 16, and Dupree contributed 12 points.
Tina Charles starred in defeat for New York, pouring in a game-high 32 points on 11-of-23 shooting. Her two foul shots with seven seconds left gave the Liberty a one-point lead, but they couldn't come up with a final stop defensively.
Just before the final play, McCowan returned to the game for the first time since she picked up her fifth foul with 5:07 left.
Kia Nurse chipped in 12 points for the Liberty, and reserve Reshanda Gray added 10, but New York made just 40 percent of its field-goal attempts and committed 16 turnovers while forcing only nine. The Liberty weren't able to make a field goal over the final 2:36.
New York came out with the bounce early, holding Indiana scoreless for the first 4:50 before Shenise Johnson drove for a layup. Charles' jumper made it 12-2 Liberty at the 3:40 mark, but the Fever rallied within 19-16 at quarter's end.
Indiana kept that surge going in the second quarter, taking its first lead when Mitchell converted a finger roll with 6:52 left for a 24-23 edge. A 3-pointer by Wheeler with 23.8 seconds remaining enabled the Fever to take a 39-33 advantage to the locker room.
New York rallied in the third quarter after Indiana established a 52-42 advantage on a McCowan free throw. The Liberty closed the period with an 18-4 spurt, using a put-back from Gray with three seconds left to grab a 60-56 lead going to the fourth.
--Field Level Media
