Liberty center Carolyn Swords stood in the pregame introduction line, slapping hands and patting players on the back as usual, but on Tuesday night, she wore a long black dress and a walking boot on her right foot.
Swords, a productive post scorer during the Liberty’s first two games of the Eastern conference semifinals against the Washington Mystics, injured her foot on Sunday during an 86-68 win.
Without her, the Liberty were left with a glaring deficit, but the reserves Sugar Rodgers and Candice Wiggins spurred a 15-0 second-quarter run and held on to close out the Mystics, 79-74, to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2010.