Sports

LIBERTY LOOK FOR SPARK

Liberty GM Carol Blazejowski already has rebuilt the team. Now she continues to rebuild the coaching staff.

After replacing head coach Pat Coyle on July 31 with assistant Anne Donovan, one of the most accomplished players in women’s basketball history, Blazejowksi announced yesterday that former Detroit Shock assistant Laurie Byrd has joined the staff, filling the role vacated by Donovan.

Byrd, the sister of former heavyweight boxing champ Chris Byrd, was on the staff of the Shock team that won the 2003 WNBA title. She also was an assistant coach for the now-defunct Houston Comets and served as the team’s director of player personnel.

Byrd is expected to be on the bench tonight when the Liberty (7-14) play at Los Angeles (9:00, ESPN2). The Sparks (7-11), once the Liberty’s biggest rivals, also have slipped from the ranks of the elite.

New York snapped a five-game losing streak with an 84-66 win in Sacramento on Friday night but dropped a 70-69 decision in Seattle the next night. Those two outcomes suggest the Liberty might be finding a new direction under Donovan.

Tonight is the end of the Liberty’s longest road trip of the season, a grueling five-game, cross-country trek that started with an 89-83 loss in Atlanta and then continued on the West Coast. The Liberty return home Friday and will try to snap a three-game losing streak in the Garden.

lenn.robbins@nypost.com