Liberty looking for first title

NEW YORK -- After seeing the Los Angeles win the WNBA title its first time out, the New York Liberty feel they're more than a little due for some rings of their own.\nThe Liberty will begin their fourth title quest in six years tonight when they play the Sparks in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. The best-of-three series then shifts to Los Angeles.\n"New York has a lot of veterans who feel they should have won a championship by now," Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "Madison Square Garden is the mecca of basketball. The crowd gives the Liberty a strong home court advantage from a coaching perspective, because the opposing coach can't be heard over the crowd."\nA raucous crowd of nearly 12,000 stood amid falling confetti after New York beat the Washington Mystics 64-57 Sunday, winning the last two games of the series to secure their third Eastern Conference title in four years.\nThe victory had special significance for veterans Teresa Weatherspoon, 36, Sue Wicks, 35, and Vickie Johnson, 30. It softened the memory of losing to Charlotte at home in the 2001 conference finals.