Two weeks ago, my column was written about the Liberty's rough start of 1-3. Since then, we've turned things around and are now 8-3 and currently on a seven-game winning streak.

Not only is that an impressive turnaround, but last week was especially challenging for us, as we headed out on a very tough and long road trip.

Last Saturday, we played the Washington Mystics at home and won 86-63. Later that night, we flew to Orlando, Fla., and arrived at 3 a.m., due to airline delays. Sunday morning, we woke up at 8 a.m. to fly on to Miami for a 5 p.m. game that night. Again, due to airport delays, we didn't get in until 3 p.m., just two hours before the game.

With hardly any preparation (due to the fact that we had had a game the day before), we faced Miami, which was sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference. We avenged our opening-game loss to them, a 68-59 defeat, and finally stole a 55-48 win from them on their court. They had beaten us the last two meetings, dating back to last year.

Monday, we got up early again to head to Sacramento to play the Monarchs, a team that had beaten us by 20 points on our home court earlier this season. Again, due to airline delays, we didn't arrive until evening. We got up the next morning (Tuesday), watched game film and had a walk-through and shoot-around.

Sacramento is a very up-tempo team but got off to a slow start, partially because of our defense. It is important to jump on teams early when you're on the road.

That has been the difference for us this year for getting road wins; we aren't digging holes early and then trying to fight all odds to climb back into the game. It's very hard to come back on teams on their home courts. It's much easier to climb back on your own court. We held off a late Sacramento run and beat a very good team 65-56.

On Wednesday morning, we headed to Phoenix to face the Mercury. We got off the plane and headed to the gym for practice. After a two-hour practice, it was finally time to relax.

Normally, I fall asleep somewhere between midnight and 1 a.m. (I guess I'm a bit of a night owl), but that night I fell asleep at 8:30 p.m. and slept through the night. We were all pretty tired, so it was nice to finally get some rest. There's nothing like getting sleep in your own bed, but when you're tired enough, hotel beds aren't so bad.

Thursday was game day. We went through the usual pre-game routine and prepared to play Phoenix that night in front of a national television audience. Again, we jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. In three years of playing for the Liberty, we've never won in Phoenix. Thursday night, we beat them by 25 and set numerous records, both for the WNBA and the Liberty.

There were two substantial statistics that jumped out about this game: First, the Liberty were a perfect 9-for-9 from three-point land (a WNBA record), and second, we had 32 assists and only 10 turnovers. Those factors were huge in our 95-70 victory, our third straight road win in the last five days.

So it's great to be on the road and on a roll.

Becky Hammon, an all-state basketball player at Rapid City Stevens and an All-American at Colorado State, is in her third year of pro basketball as a member of the WNBA's New York Liberty.