Nicole Powell scored 19 points, Plenette Pierson had 15 and the New York Liberty beat the Indiana Fever 87-72 Saturday to even their best-of-three Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Cappie Pondexter scored 14, Essence Carson had 12 and Kia Vaughn 10 for New York, which bounced back from a 74-72 loss in Game 1. The Liberty shot 50 percent from the field (30 for 60) and were 20 for 21 on free throws.

Katie Douglas scored 20 points and Shavonte Zellous had 13 for the Fever. Indiana leading scorer Tamika Catchings was held to two points on 1-for-8 shooting from the field.

Game 3 is Monday night in Indianapolis.

Carson had a jumper and a layup in the opening minute of the fourth to stretch New York's lead to 66-50.

After Indiana pulled within 12 on Tammy Sutton-Brown's layup and Douglas' free throw on a technical on Pondexter, the Liberty went on a 9-0 run to take control. Pierson scored the first seven points and Carson made two free throws with 5:08 remaining to put New York ahead 76-55.

Powell's two free throws with 1:50 remaining gave the Liberty their biggest lead at 85-61.

Both teams shot poorly in the third quarter. Indiana was 4 for 13, while New York was 4 for 15. The Fever were 1 for 2 from the free-throw line, while New York went 4 for 4 to increase its nine-point halftime lead to 12.

The Fever missed their first six shots and the Liberty were 1 for 8 over the first 5½ minutes of the third. Douglas' layup with 4:24 to go ended Indiana's scoring drought. Powell's layup with about 12 seconds to go gave New York a 62-50 lead heading to the fourth.

Pondexter had a jumper and a three-point play to give New York a 31-30 lead with 7:10 remaining in the second quarter. It was the Liberty's first advantage since 2-0 in the opening minute of the game.

Erin Phillips hit a jumper 9 seconds later to regain the Fever's lead, but Leilani Mitchell made a 3 to put New York back ahead. After Sutton-Brown's layup with 6:11 to go in the half tied it, the Liberty took the lead for good with a 10-0 run. Pondexter and Mitchell each made a 3 during the spurt.

Douglas and Tangela Smith had consecutive baskets to pull Indiana within seven, but Kara Braxton's layup in the final minute gave New York a 50-41 lead at the break.

Indiana led most of the first quarter until Mitchell's 3 — the Liberty's fourth basket from beyond the arc — tied it at 20 with 45 seconds left. Douglas responded with her third 3 of the game 17 seconds later to give Indiana the lead after 10 minutes.

Before the game, Vaughn received the WNBA's most improved player award. The third-year center took advantage of extended playing time this season after Taj McWilliams-Franklin left for Minnesota and Janel McCarville decided to sit out. Vaughn averaged 10.1 points and 6.7 rebounds — up from last season's 2.1 and 1.4, respectively — as her minutes increased from 8.1 per game a year ago to 28.1. The former Rutgers star started every game this year after starting just one the prevous two.