Liberty take over Radio City Hall

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jul 23, 2004 by Vin A. Cherwoo Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Move over Rockettes. The New York Liberty are taking over Radio City Music Hall.

Over the years, the renowned venue has hosted awards shows, political rallies, presidential birthday celebrations, movie and television screenings, concerts and the famous Christmas show. Add basketball to the list.

To allow for preparations for next month's Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden, the WNBA's Liberty have moved to Radio City for their next six home games.

The team left the Garden after last Sunday's game against Charlotte, moving their belongings, including some office equipment, out of the arena. They will not be allowed to return until after the convention setup has been dismantled in mid-September.

The Liberty's court was moved, in approximately 225 pieces, and laid out on the stage Monday. The teams' benches and the scorers' tables are situated at the back of the stage, against the wall. There are about six rows of seats on each end of the court, and the media will be seated in the orchestra pit against the front of the stage.

"I think it's pretty cool," Liberty interim coach Pat Coyle said. "It fits great. It's the same measurements we have in the Garden. There's probably more room on the baselines and the sideline (at the front of the stage). We probably have more room here than we have in the Garden."

When the Republicans announced last year they would hold the convention at the Garden, Liberty senior vice president and general manager Carol Blazejowski knew the team would have to look for an alternate site for some games.

"We made a list of all the venues that could be possible," she said. "We looked at Nassau Coliseum, the Meadowlands ... the colleges in the area. We looked at everything.

"Most of our (fans) are from Manhattan and the New York area, and we're making it as easy for them as possible. They just have to travel 20 blocks farther. We thought this makes sense."

After accepting the reduced capacity at Radio City -- 5,945, compared to 19,763 at the Garden, the biggest challenge for Blazejowski was assigning seats for the team's season ticket- holders.

"We don't have the same venue seating arrangements," she said. "We had to make a determination in our minds what we view is a comparable seat."

The Liberty's games, beginning with Saturday's against the defending champion Detroit Shock, will be the first team sports played at Radio City. The only previous sporting event there was on Jan. 15, 2000, when Roy Jones Jr. beat David Telesco in a 12-round light-heavyweight title fight.

The Liberty will play only six games at Radio City, since the league will take an Olympic break from Aug. 1 to Sept. 1. The team will return to the Garden for its season finale on Sept. 19.

In WNBA games Thursday:

STORM 59, FEVER 54: At Seattle, Lauren Jackson scored 25 points and Betty Lennox hit a jumper in the final seconds to lead Seattle over Indiana. After Kelly Miller hit a 3-pointer to give Indiana a 54- 53 lead, Lennox made a 13-foot jumper with 15 seconds left. The Fever had a chance to go ahead, but Stephanie White missed a pair of free throws with 6.7 seconds left. Jackson and Kamila Vodichkova each made two free throws in the final seconds to seal the win. Lennox finished with 15 points for Seattle. Tamika Catchings and Kelly Miller led Indiana with 15 points apiece.

LYNX 68, SUN 52: At Uncasville, Conn., Katie Smith scored 27 points, and rookie Nicole Ohlde had a career-high five blocks to lead Minnesota over poor-shooting Connecticut. Smith tied her career-high with six 3-pointers. The Lynx opened an 18-point lead, and the Sun never threatened. The Sun shot a season-low 32 percent, with only Wendy Palmer reaching double figures with 10 points.

MERCURY 71, MONARCHS 69: At Sacramento, Calif., rookie Diana Taurasi had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead Phoenix to the win, ending the Mercury's eight-game losing streak against the Monarchs.

Phoenix had not beaten Sacramento since June 2002, and had not won at Arco Arena since 1998.

With the Monarchs trailing 70-69, Kara Lawson went the length of the court but missed a driving layup with two seconds left. The Mercury's Plenette Pierson made a free throw with 1.3 seconds left to help Phoenix win for the second night in a row.

Anna DeForge added 17 points, Pierson 13 and Penny Taylor 11 to go with six assists.

Ticha Penicheiro made three 3-pointers and scored a season-high 15 points for the Monarchs.