New York Liberty at Tulsa Shock

Temeka Johnson scores career-high 26 in Shock win over Liberty

Johnson scored 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field to lead the Shock to a 78-66 victory over the New York Liberty on Thursday night. It was New York's third straight win and the franchise's longest in three seasons in Tulsa.

With just two road games remaining and Johnson a free agent after the season, nothing seems certain for 2013. Asked if she wanted to return, Johnson said, "Of course."

After thinking about it, she added: "I won't rule it out. It's been a very difficult season, something I've never experienced. We've lived the highs and lows but you always want to make a difference in terms of turning things around. There's an upside (to this organization) and I may just be around to see it."

"Tonight was really a collective effort," Johnson said. "Everyone came out with a lot of energy. We wanted to do this for the fans. When you are on the outside all you see is the record. You don't feel the energy of the fans. When I talked to coach (Gary Kloppenburg) during the offseason he made me want to come Tulsa. You don't want to be anywhere where you aren't wanted and the Shock wanted me. That was a plus."

Tulsa shot 14 for 30 (47 percent) on 3-pointers, led by Johnson's 4 for 5, Jennifer Lacy's 3 for 4, and Latta's 3 for 7.

Kara Braxton, Plenette Pierson and Cappie Pondexter scored 14 points apiece to lead the Liberty (14-19), and Essence Carson added 11 points. New York clinched the Eastern Conference's fourth and final playoff berth minutes later when Chicago lost to Atlanta, 75-66.

"I thought we did a really good job on Cappie," Kloppenburg said. "It started with Temeka on her. We also trapped her quite a bit. To hold her to 14, was a really great effort on our part."

Tulsa made four 3-pointers early to grab a 22-14 advantage. The Shock used a 12-2 run over the final three minutes of the second quarter to take a 45-30 lead at halftime. Riquna Williams made a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4.2 seconds to play in the half.

"Riquna hit a couple of big 3s for us," Kloppenburg said. "We have gotten really great guard play particularly in the second half of the season. We really got our running game going. ... Temeka played outstanding tonight, so did Amber and Ivory. Temeka is probably the reason we've been winning of late."

The Shock finish the season on the road, with games at New York on Saturday and at Indiana on Sunday.

Kloppenburg acknowledged the team has a few free agents but added it was a priority to re-sign Johnson.

"For sure, we'd love to get Temeka back," Kloppenburg said. "No question about that. We want to keep this team intact and add those two bigs (Tiffany Jones and Liz Cambage) back into the scheme. Ideally, that's what we want to do."

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1