NEW YORK - The Detroit Shock (5-0) handed the New York Liberty their first loss of the season Friday night, 67-57, in front of a lackluster crowd at Madison Square Garden, to remain the only unbeaten team in the WNBA. The victory marked the first time in franchise history that Detroit has begun a season winning its first five.

Detroit was led by Deanna Nolan’s 17 points; Swin Cash added 14 and Plenette Pierson contributed 13 off the bench. Cheryl Ford had 11 points and 11 boards. Pierson had four of the Shock’s 11 blocks.

“It was definitely a statement game,” Cash said afterward. “Obviously with two unbeatens, only one can survive, and we wanted to be in that role. We came in here with a little chip on our shoulder.”

Although the Shock committed seven turnovers in the first quarter, they turned it around in the second. Conversely, following a 19-12 start, the Liberty could not get their game off the ground.

New York trailed, 33-27, at the half, punctuated by a paltry eight points in the second quarter. Loree Moore [three points in 26 minutes] could not get out of the gate and committed two fouls in the first five minutes of play. She also had five turnovers, three in the opening quarter alone. Moore’s third foul with 6:25 left in the half sent her to the bench. She finished one-of-six from the field.

“I think it hurt us big time,” Liberty coach Pat Coyle said. “We lost a lot of our aggressiveness when she went to the bench.”

The defending champs came into the game with a winning attitude that shone through.

“We are the best team,” Nolan said, “and we can only beat ourselves.”

“We know that we are the show in the league right now,” Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer added. “Teams want to play us, fans want to see us play, for good or bad.”

New York shot a dismal 32% (21-for-65), led by Shameka Christon’s 18. Cathrine Kraayeveld added 13, eight of which were scored in the first quarter.

“I would credit their defense,” Coyle said. “They did a good job of getting us out of our offense. But, a lot of that was on us also.”

“Detroit is a very good team,” Christon lamented. “They’ve won two championships. I think as a team, collectively, we weren’t ready.”

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