2016 New York Liberty season

2016 New York Liberty season
Coach	Bill Laimbeer
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Attendance	9,724 per game
Results
Record	21–13 (.618)
Place	1st (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost in Second Round to Phoenix
Team Leaders
Points	Tina Charles – 21.5 ppg
Rebounds	Tina Charles – 9.9 rpg
Assists	Tina Charles – 3.8 apg
Media
Television	MSG Network (MSG), MSG Plus (MSG+)
← 2015 season 2017 season →

The 2016 WNBA season was the 20th season for the New York Liberty franchise of the WNBA. The season began on May 14, on the road against the Washington Mystics. ^[1] The Liberty started the season with two straight wins, before dropping their final three games in May. Two of there losses came in overtime, and the third came by ten points to Minnesota. They won their first two games of June before dropping a road game against Los Angeles. The Liberty went on a winning streak from there, winning their next six straight games, which included four road wins. The streak was broken with an overtime loss to Phoenix on June 26. The team followed that with an overtime victory over Minnesota to finish the month 9–2. The Liberty won five of their first six games in July, with the only lost coming in Los Angeles. Their victories included three point defeats of Seattle and Chicago. They went 2–2 in their final four games before the Olympic break, losing to Minnesota and Indiana, and defeating Connecticut and Washington. They finished July 7–3, and were 18–8 before the break. They won their first game back against San Antonio 84–77. However, the second half of the season did not go as well for the Liberty, as they went 2–5 in September. They only defeated Phoenix and Connecticut. All of their defeats, except a 84–81 loss to Dallas, came by double digits.

The Liberty finished the season 21–13, which saw them finish in first place in the Eastern Conference. They were the third seed in the 2016 WNBA playoffs and earned a bye into the Second Round. They hosted eighth-seed Phoenix in their Second Round game. The Mercury defeated the Liberty 101–94. The game was within two points in the fourth quarter, but a late surge saw the Mercury pull away. A highlight of the season was Tina Charles sweeping Eastern Conference Player of the Month awards, and winning seven Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards. She was also selected to the All-WNBA First Team while leading the league in scoring and rebounding.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2016 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	12	Adut Bulgak	Canada	Florida State
2	24	Ameryst Alston	United States	Ohio State
3	36	Shacobia Barbee		Georgia

Trades/Roster Changes

Date	Details
February 1, 2016	Signed Shavonte Zellous [2]
	Re-signed Carolyn Swords [3]
March 8, 2016	Signed Swin Cash [4]
April 18, 2016	Signed Lindsey Harding [5]
May 2, 2016	The Liberty acquired Shoni Schimmel from the Atlanta Dream in exchange for their second round pick in the 2017 WNBA draft. [6]
May 11, 2016	The Liberty acquired Amanda Zahui B. and Dallas' second round pick in the 2017 draft in exchange for the Liberty's first round pick in the 2017 draft. [7]

Roster

Source: ^[8]

2016 New York Liberty roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 9 Allen, Rebecca 6' 2" (1.88m) 162 lb (73kg) 1992-11-06 Australia 1 G 22 Alston, Ameryst 5' 9" (1.75m) 178 lb (81kg) 1994-06-20 Ohio State R G 15 Boyd, Brittany 5' 9" (1.75m) 156 lb (71kg) 1993-06-11 California 1 C 2 Bulgak, Adut 6' 4" (1.93m) 156 lb (71kg) 1992-12-20 Florida State R F 32 Cash, Swin 6' 1" (1.85m) 171 lb (78kg) 1979-09-22 Connecticut 14 F/C 31 Charles, Tina 6' 4" (1.93m) 192 lb (87kg) 1988-12-05 Connecticut 6 G 12 Harding, Lindsey 5' 8" (1.73m) 139 lb (63kg) 1984-06-12 Duke 8 G 10 Prince, Epiphanny 5' 9" (1.75m) 179 lb (81kg) 1988-01-11 Rutgers 6 G 14 Rodgers, Sugar 5' 9" (1.75m) 161 lb (73kg) 1989-12-08 Georgetown 3 G 5 Schimmel, Shoni 5' 9" (1.75m) 161 lb (73kg) 1992-05-04 Louisville 2 C 41 Stokes, Kiah 6' 3" (1.91m) 191 lb (87kg) 1993-03-30 Connecticut 1 C 8 Swords, Carolyn 6' 6" (1.98m) 215 lb (98kg) 1989-07-19 Boston College 4 G 30 Wright, Tanisha 5' 11" (1.8m) 166 lb (75kg) 1983-11-29 Penn State 11 C 17 Zahui B., Amanda 6' 5" (1.96m) 184 lb (83kg) 1993-09-08 Minnesota 1 G 1 Zellous, Shavonte 5' 10" (1.78m) 188 lb (85kg) 1986-08-28 Pittsburgh 7	Head coach Bill Laimbeer (Notre Dame) Assistant coaches Katie Smith (Ohio State) Herb Williams (Ohio State) Athletic trainer Rosemary Ragle (Troy) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Game log

Preseason

2016 pre-season game log
May: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 1 vs. Chicago L 59–93 Adut Bulgak (17) Adut Bulgak (12) Brittany Boyd-Jones (3) Bob Carpenter Center 3,432 0–1 2 May 5 Minnesota L 74–77 Sugar Rodgers (22) Avery Warley-Talbert (6) Alston, Warley-Talbert (2) Levien Gymnasium 1,028 0–2
2016 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2017 game log Total: 21–13 (Home: 10–7; Road: 11–6)
May: 2–3 (Home: 1–2; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 14 @ Washington W 87–76 Tina Charles (24) Tina Charles (11) Lindsey Harding (7) Capital One Arena 11,579 1–0 2 May 15 Dallas W 79–71 Charles, Rodgers (24) Tina Charles (11) Lindsey Harding (5) Madison Square Garden 10,120 2–0 3 May 21 Los Ageles L 72–79 (OT) Tina Charles (17) Tina Charles (16) Harding, Wright (4) Madison Square Garden 9,417 2–1 4 May 24 Atlanta L 79–85 (OT) Tina Charles (29) Carolyn Swords (11) Tina Charles (6) Madison Square Garden 14,503 2–2 5 May 31 Minnesota L 69–79 Tina Charles (23) Tina Charles (11) Tanisha Wright (4) Madison Square Garden 7,356 2–3
June : 9–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 6–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 6 June 3 Indiana W 91–59 Sugar Rodgers (21) Kiah Stokes (12) Tina Charles (6) Madison Square Garden 8,566 3–3 7 June 5 @ Seattle W 86–78 Tina Charles (19) Tina Charles (13) Sugar Rodgers (5) KeyArena 6,240 4–3 8 June 7 @ Los Angeles L 77–100 Shavonte Zellous (12) Amanda Zahui B. (8) Tina Charles (4) Staples Center 7,103 4–4 9 June 11 @ San Antonio W 90–75 Sugar Rodgers (22) Kiah Stokes (10) Tina Charles (6) AT&T Center 5,219 5–4 10 June 14 Dallas W 91–88 Tina Charles (28) Rodgers, Stokes (7) Tanisha Wright (5) Madison Square Garden 7,939 6–4 11 June 16 @ Connecticut W 80–72 Tina Charles (32) Kiah Stokes (9) Tanisha Wright (6) Mohegan Sun Arena 4,786 7–4 12 June 19 @ Indiana W 78–75 Tina Charles (26) Tina Charles (15) Tina Charles (6) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,440 8–4 13 June 22 @ Atlanta W 90–79 Tina Charles (23) Charles, Stokes (9) Tina Charles (10) Philips Arena 10,345 9–4 14 June 24 Chicago W 80–79 Tina Charles (21) Tina Charles (13) Charles, Wright (4) Madison Square Garden 10,120 10–4 15 June 26 Phoenix L 97–104 (OT) Tina Charles (26) Charles, Stokes (8) Wright, Zellous (6) Madison Square Garden 9,591 10–5 16 June 29 @ Minnesota W 95–92 (OT) Sugar Rodgers (30) Kiah Stokes (11) Boyd-Jones, Wright, Zellous (3) Target Center 7,721 11–5
July : 7–3 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 17 July 1 @ Phoenix W 99–88 Tina Charles (31) Tina Charles (10) Tanisha Wright (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,606 12–5 18 July 3 @ Los Angeles L 67–77 Tina Charles (27) Carolyn Swords (11) Charles, Wright (3) Staples Center 10,003 12–6 19 July 6 Seattle W 78–74 Charles, Wright (18) Kiah Stokes (11) Sugar Rodgers (7) Madison Square Garden 9,852 13–6 20 July 8 @ Chicago W 88–85 Tina Charles (29) Tina Charles (9) Tanisha Wright (6) Allstate Arena 5,633 14–6 21 July 10 San Antonio W 75–65 Amanda Zahui B. (14) Carolyn Swords (11) Brittany Boyd-Jones (4) Madison Square Garden 9,790 15–6 22 July 13 Atlanta W 86–62 Tina Charles (18) Tina Charles (9) Wright, Zellous (3) Madison Square Garden 11,317 16–6 23 July 15 @ Minnesota L 70–88 Tina Charles (15) Tina Charles (14) Shavonte Zellous (4) Target Center 8,123 16–7 24 July 17 Connecticut W 83–76 Swin Cash (16) Tina Charles (10) Charles, Rodgers, Wright (3) Madison Square Garden 9,464 17–7 25 July 20 Washington W 88–81 Rebecca Allen (19) Charles, Zahui B. (9) Brittany Boyd-Jones (7) Capital One Arena 12,778 18–7 26 July 21 Indiana L 70–82 Tina Charles (25) Tina Charles (13) Boyd-Jones, Wright (6) Madison Square Garden 11,253 18–8
August : 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 27 August 26 @ San Antonio W 84–77 Sugar Rodgers (18) Tina Charles (10) Charles, Zellous (4) AT&T Center 6,831 19–8
September : 2–5 (Home: 2–2; Road: 0–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 28 September 1 @ Indiana L 77–98 Tina Charles (22) Tina Charles (11) Boyd-Jones, Charles (6) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 6,524 19–9 29 September 3 Phoenix W 92–70 Tina Charles (23) Tina Charles (15) Brittany Boyd-Jones (6) Madison Square Garden 10,026 20–9 30 September 7 Seattle L 78–102 Tina Charles (22) Tina Charles (9) Tina Charles (7) Madison Square Garden 8,159 20–10 31 September 9 Connecticut W 89–82 Tina Charles (23) Tina Charles (10) Brittany Boyd-Jones (8) Madison Square Garden 9,482 21–10 32 September 11 @ Dallas L 81–84 Tina Charles (29) Tina Charles (10) Brittany Boyd-Jones (10) College Park Center 5,662 21–11 33 September 13 Washington L 62–75 Tina Charles (22) Tina Charles (11) Brittany Boyd-Jones (6) Madison Square Garden 8,345 21–12 34 September 16 @ Chicago L 68–92 Cash, Swords (15) Allen, Swords (8) Brittany Boyd-Jones (6) Allstate Arena 7,295 21–13
2016 season schedule

Playoffs

2016 playoff game log
WNBA Second Round: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 24 Phoenix L 94–101 Tanisha Wright (21) Tina Charles (9) Charles, Wright (5) Madison Square Garden 10,227 0–1
2016 playoff schedule

Standings

Eastern Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
3 - New York Liberty	21	13	.618	—	10–7	11–6	11–5
4 - Chicago Sky	18	16	.529	3	11–6	7–10	8–8
5 - Indiana Fever	17	17	.500	4	8–9	9–8	8–8
6 - Atlanta Dream	17	17	.500	4	11–6	6–11	9–7
e - Connecticut Sun	14	20	.412	7	8–9	6–11	4–12
e - Washington Mystics	13	21	.382	8	5–12	8–9	8–8

Playoffs

See also: 2016 WNBA Finals

	First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21)					Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25)					Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6)								WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20)
											1	Minnesota Lynx		113	96	82
						3	New York Liberty	94			8	Phoenix Mercury		95	86	67
	5	Indiana Fever	78			8	Phoenix Mercury	101											1	Minnesota Lynx	76	79	75	85	76
	8	Phoenix Mercury	89																2	Los Angeles Sparks	78	60	92	79	77
											2	Los Angeles Sparks	95	99	66	95
						4	Chicago Sky	108			4	Chicago Sky	75	84	70	75
	6	Atlanta Dream	94			6	Atlanta Dream	98
	7	Seattle Storm	85

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Source: ^[8]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tina Charles	32	32	33.7	43.9%	34.7%	81.2%	9.9	3.8	0.8	0.8	21.5
Sugar Rodgers	33	33	30.5	40.5%	41.3%	84.2%	3.7	2.4	1.1	0.5	14.5
Kiah Stokes	27	0	24.1	64.1%	—	62.7%	7.4	0.7	0.7	1.4	6.9
Shavonte Zellous	33	1	23.3	40.3%	19.2%	85.1%	2.5	2.2	0.9	0.2	8.8
Tanisha Wright	29	28	23.0	40.1%	23.5%	71.7%	2.3	3.6	0.9	0.2	6.7
Lindsey Harding	5	3	22.8	32.0%	0.00%	100.0%	2.8	3.6	0.2	0.0	3.6
Brittany Boyd	33	9	19.7	36.1%	16.7%	72.8%	2.5	3.6	1.6	0.1	6.5
Swin Cash	31	23	19.5	37.9%	12.5%	68.3%	3.4	1.4	0.7	0.5	5.3
Carolyn Swords	34	34	17.5	57.1%	—	68.6%	4.6	0.7	0.2	0.6	5.2
Epiphanny Prince	6	0	13.8	40.0%	36.4%	100.0%	1.5	0.7	0.3	0.0	5.2
Rebecca Allen	21	6	13.3	45.9%	56.7%	86.7%	1.7	0.5	0.4	0.5	5.7
Amanda Zahui B.	33	1	11.3	44.9%	18.8%	78.7%	3.2	0.4	0.3	0.7	5.0
Shoni Schimmel	17	0	4.5	55.0%	56.3%	80.0%	0.5	0.6	0.2	0.1	2.1
Adut Bulgak	7	0	3.3	45.5%	50.0%	75.0%	1.3	—	—	—	2.0
Ameryst Alston	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Tina Charles	Peak Performer: Points	September 20, 2016	[9]
	Peak Performer: Rebounds
	All-WNBA First Team	October 14, 2016	[10]
	Eastern Conference Player of the Month	June 2, 2016	[11]
		July 7, 2016	[12]
		July 26, 2016	[13]
		September 20, 2016	[14]
	Eastern Conference Player of the Week	May 23, 2016	[15]
		June 6, 2016	[16]
		June 20, 2016	[17]
		June 27, 2016	[18]
		July 6, 2016	[19]
		July 22, 2016	[20]
		September 5, 2016	[21]
Tanisha Wright	WNBA All-Defensive Second Team	September 30, 2016	[22]

References

1. "2016 New York Liberty Schedule". WNBA . Retrieved May 10, 2025.
2. "New York Liberty sign free agent Shavonte Zellous". Sports Illustrated . February 1, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
3. "Liberty Signs Shavonte Zellous and Carolyn Swords to Open Free Agency". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
4. "Former UConn Star Swin Cash Back With New York Liberty". Hartford Courant . Associated Press. May 24, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
5. "New York Liberty Signs Guard Lindsey Harding". wnba.com. WNBA. April 18, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
6. "Liberty Acquire Dream Guard Shoni Schimmel for Second-Round Draft Pick". WNBA. May 2, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
7. "New York Liberty Acquires Amanda Zahui B. From Dallas Wings". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
8. "2016 New York Liberty Stats". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference . Retrieved May 10, 2025.
9. "Liberty's Charles, Seattle's Bird Earn 2016 WNBA Peak Performer Awards". wnba.com. WNBA. September 20, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
10. "2016 All-WNBA First and Second Teams Announced". wnba.com. WNBA. October 14, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
11. "Charles, Moore Named WNBA Players of the Month Presented by Samsung". wnba.com. WNBA. June 2, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
12. "Tina Charles And Nneka Ogwumike Named Players Of The Month". wnba.com. WNBA. July 7, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
13. "Charles, Ogwumike Named WNBA Players of the Month Presented by Samsung". wnba.com. WNBA. July 26, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
14. "Maya Moore, Tina Charles Named Players Of The Month". wnba.com. WNBA. September 20, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
15. "Charles Named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. May 23, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
16. "Tina Charles Named Eastern Conference Player of the Week For 2nd Time". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. June 6, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
17. "Charles Tabbed as Eastern Conference Player of the Week for a 3rd Time". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. June 20, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
18. "Déjà Vu: Charles Repeats as Player of the Week". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. June 27, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
19. "Charles Ties WNBA Record with 5th Player of the Week Win". liberty.wnba.com. WNBA. July 6, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
20. "Tina Charles and Nneka Ogwumike Named WNBA Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. July 25, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
21. "New York's Charles, Phoenix's Griner Named WNBA Players Of The Week". wnba.com. WNBA. September 5, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
22. "Sylvia Fowles, Nneka Ogwumike Headline 2016 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 30, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2025.