Tina Charles grew up watching the Liberty play at Madison Square Garden during the team’s glory days. Thanks in large part to Charles, those glory days are back.
Turning in a dominant second-half performance in a 79-74 victory over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night, Charles scored 22 points as the Liberty advanced to the W.N.B.A.’s Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2010. Now, in a turnaround hastened by Pope Francis’ visit to New York, Charles and the Liberty must face a fresh Indiana Fever team on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the conference finals at the Garden.