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NEW YORK - At the end, after the buzzer sounded and the crowd at Madison Square Garden began to boo the Liberty, Vickie Johnson hugged her friend. The former Liberty guard told ex-teammate Becky Hammon to keep her head up.
It is not easy for the Liberty these days. An obviously frustrated Hammon watched as Johnson returned to the Garden and tore apart the Liberty's defense. Johnson had 19 points on Friday night to lead six San Antonio players in double figures as the Silver Stars handed the Liberty a 91-78 loss in front of a frustrated crowd that was announced at 8,050.
"We knew she is a competitor," Hammon said. "We knew she wasn't going to come in here and play soft. It's just their whole team played like they wanted it more."
Though she coyly avoided saying so, Johnson was happy to prove a point to the Liberty - who let her walk away before this season without so much as a phone call. Friday night she was greeted warmly by the crowd, including signs thanking her for nine great years.
"New York wanted to get younger, and I certainly wasn't getting any younger," said Johnson, 34, who was one of the original WNBA and Liberty players. "There are some great players in this league and I guess the Liberty wanted to rebuild."
Johnson made that plan look foolish as she held Hammon to just two points in the first half while San Antonio raced to a 39-27 halftime lead and never looked back. While Hammon finished with 22 points and Shameka Christon led the Liberty with 23, it wasn't nearly enough to avoid an 11th loss in 15 games.
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(c) 2006, New York Daily News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
