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NEW YORK -- One day after taking over as interim coach of the New York Liberty, Anne Donovan pointed to the team's inconsistent play as the biggest reason for its struggles.

"We've been a very up-and-down team," Donovan said in a conference call from Atlanta on Saturday. "Not just from game to game, but from quarter to quarter, minute to minute. We all know we have to be more consistent with that."

With the team 6-11, Pat Coyle was fired as coach on Friday and replaced by Donovan, who joined the staff as an assistant before the season. The change came a day after New York lost its third straight game, 78-75 at home to Washington. The Liberty trailed 34-12 after one quarter.

Donovan, who has known Coyle for more than 30 years since they both grew up in New Jersey, said when she learned of the change she felt "great disappointment for Patty and the team and the place and time we found ourselves."

New York was preparing to play the Dream later Saturday in the opener of a five-game road trip. The Liberty won't play at home again until Aug. 14.

"We've moved forward today," Donovan said. "Yesterday, I think we all kind of floundered through a practice and travel. ... We start the next half of our season tonight. We're looking forward to the next 17 games, and knowing we have to play a whole lot better basketball in order to turn things around."

The Liberty had one change in their last game, with third-year forward Tiffany Jackson replacing Cathrine Kraayeveld in the starting lineup, and Donovan didn't expect any more shuffling right away.

"With every game, every day, we'll continue to evaluate, try to figure out what's best for this team, to give us the best opportunity to win," she said. "That's going to be a day-by-day, game-by-game scenario."

The Liberty are 7½ games behind first-place Indiana and two behind Atlanta and Chicago for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East. They trail second-place Washington by 3½ games.

"Our adjustment right now is just to be a better team, a more consistent basketball team," Donovan said. "And that's what we're after tonight."

The Liberty will be looking to hire an assistant, and Donovan said she and team president and general manager Carol Blazejowski have discussed some names but wouldn't disclose any candidates.

New York reached the Eastern Conference finals last season, losing to eventual champion Detroit in three games. The Liberty also lost to the Shock in three games in the first round in 2007, a year after a franchise-record 23 losses.

Donovan led the U.S. women to a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics last year. She was 138-128 as a WNBA coach with Indiana, Charlotte and Seattle. She left as the Storm's coach and director of player personnel after the 2007 season, compiling a 93-77 record in five seasons and leading Seattle to the league title in 2004.

Donovan, who starred at Old Dominion and earned Olympic gold medals as a player in 1984 and 1988, became the first person in USA basketball history to win Olympic gold as an athlete and head coach. She was also an assistant on Van Chancellor's staff for the 2004 team that won gold in Athens.

She was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1995, and into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2005, Donovan became the first female coach in the WNBA to win 100 games.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press