Saturday, March 14
High Point, N.C.
2:00 PM
Liberty University
23-8
61
vs
42
No. 4 seed Winthrop
16-15
1
2
F
Winthrop
18
24
42
Liberty
32
29
61
Frazee Propels Liberty Into BSC Title Contest
3/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Liberty senior guard/forward Megan Frazee enjoyed a virtuoso performance Saturday afternoon, in the first Advance Auto Parts Big South Women's Basketball Championship semifinal tilt at the Millis Center in High Point, N.C. Her 28 points and 13 rebounds lifted the No. 1 seed Lady Flames past No. 4 seed Winthrop, 61-42, and into Sunday's championship game.
Liberty, which improves to 23-8 on the season, outrebounded the Eagles by a wide, 41-15 margin and limited Winthrop to 34.1 percent (15-of-44) field goal shooting. As a result, the Lady Flames will shoot for their 12th Big South Conference title in the last 13 years Sunday at 4 p.m., when they face No. 6 seed Gardner-Webb. The Bulldogs (17-14) came from behind to edge the host team, No. 2 seed High Point, in Saturday's second semifinal, 78-76. The game will be televised live on SportSouth and MASN.
The Eagles bow out of the tournament with a 16-15 record, despite receiving a 16-point effort from senior Ashley Fann, a first-team all-Big South honoree for the third consecutive season. Winthrop falls to 0-5 all-time in Big South Championship contests against the Lady Flames.
Winthrop got on the board first, when Yvonne van Daalen spun in a driving, left-handed layup on the game's opening possession. However, it was the Eagles' only lead of the contest, as the Lady Flames answered with a 6-0 burst. Moriah Frazee made four straight foul shots to finish off the run, putting Liberty in front by a 6-2 count at the 17:29 mark.
Megan Frazee scored on back-to-back possessions, including a perimeter jumper from the left corner at 13:53, bolstering the Lady Flames' advantage to 12-6.
Winthrop twice got to within two points, including at 14-12 when reserve Jessica Fansler canned a 15-foot jumper from the corner, 11:53 before the intermission.
Liberty then went on a 14-4 surge, including its first three triples of the afternoon. Rebecca Lightfoot's trey from the top of the key at 6:29 closed out the run, giving the Lady Flames a 28-16 advantage.
Liberty took its largest lead of the opening stanza, 32-18, into the locker room, after holding the Eagles to two made field goals in the final 11:52 of the half. The Lady Flames' swarming defense forced Winthrop into four shot clock violations during the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Lady Flames shot 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from the field in the first half, as compared to 35 percent (7-of-20) for the Eagles. Liberty won the rebounding battle, 18-8, and kept Winthrop from nabbing a single offensive rebound prior to the intermission.
Individually, Megan Frazee continued her stellar play at the Big South Championship, matching Winthrop's team totals for both points (18) and rebounds (8) single-handedly during the first half. Moriah Frazee added four points, while Amber Mays totaled three points and a matching number of rebounds.
Winthrop's No. 40, Ashley Fann, scored half (9) of her team's points during the opening 20 minutes. Point guard Yvonne van Daalen distributed three of the Eagles' four first-half assists.
Megan Frazee scored the second half's first four tallies, enabling Liberty to double up Winthrop's score, 36-18, just 59 seconds into the period.
The Eagles made three trifectas during an ensuing 14-4 run, and Tiffany Rodd's long-distance connection with 13:57 left put her team back to within single digits, 40-32.
Winthrop was still well within striking distance at the 9:08 mark, when Ashley Haugtvedt canned a mid-range jumper to make the score 47-38, Lady Flames.
However, the Eagles only made one more field goal the rest of the way, as Liberty closed the contest with a 14-4 surge to open up some breathing room. The final score ended up 61-42, sending Liberty to its 12th Big South Championship title contest.
The Lady Flames shot a solid 47.7 percent (21-of-44) from the field during the contest, and Liberty was able to corral 16 of its missed shots, leading to 15 second-chance points.
Liberty, the Big South's No. 1 team in free throw percentage, nailed 83.3 percent (15-of-18) of its charity tosses on Saturday, including 8-of-10 in the second half.
Megan Frazee connected on all four of her free throws, as part of her fifth double-double in six career Big South Championship outings. Former Lady Flame standout Katie (Feenstra) Mattera was among the sizable throng of Liberty fans in attendance at the Millis Center, and she saw Frazee take down a couple of her career marks.
Frazee's double-double was the 50th of her career in her 100th career appearance, breaking Feenstra's school record of 49 double-doubles. The Xenia, Ohio native also catapulted past Feenstra and into second place on the Liberty scoring list and fifth place on the Big South scoring ledger. Frazee has now scored 1,863 career points.
Frazee was not the only key cog in Liberty's victory, though. Avery Warley outrebounded the Eagles by herself after halftime, collecting eight of her 10 boards in the second half. Warley now ranks third on Liberty's freshman rebounding list, with 230 boards during her rookie campaign.
Moriah Frazee and Rachel McLeod chipped in eight points apiece for the victors, with both players hitting four-of-four from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Mays fashioned a strong, all-around effort with five points, five rebounds and a team-best four assists.
Fellow senior van Daalen complemented Fann's effort with eight points and a game-high seven assists for the Eagles. Rodd, the Big South's all-time leader in three-pointers made, hit a pair from downtown in a six-point afternoon.
Post-game Quotes
Liberty Head Coach Carey Green
"First of all, I'd like to congratulate Winthrop. They fought through some adversity this season and were able to pull things together well to finish the season strong. Our team came out pretty well focused this afternoon. We were able to do some things defensively which were pleasing to me. We had our ‘A' game going in the first half. Winthrop made a good run in the second half, but we were fortunate to keep executing our offense and were able to keep them at bay."
Winthrop Head Coach Bud Childers
"First off I want to congratulate Liberty. They were very tough this year and got us three times. Megan Frazee stepped up and proved why she was the Player of the Year, as she had a great game. We got back into the game in the second half by executing what we worked on, but we just couldn't keep them off the boards."
Liberty, which improves to 23-8 on the season, outrebounded the Eagles by a wide, 41-15 margin and limited Winthrop to 34.1 percent (15-of-44) field goal shooting. As a result, the Lady Flames will shoot for their 12th Big South Conference title in the last 13 years Sunday at 4 p.m., when they face No. 6 seed Gardner-Webb. The Bulldogs (17-14) came from behind to edge the host team, No. 2 seed High Point, in Saturday's second semifinal, 78-76. The game will be televised live on SportSouth and MASN.
The Eagles bow out of the tournament with a 16-15 record, despite receiving a 16-point effort from senior Ashley Fann, a first-team all-Big South honoree for the third consecutive season. Winthrop falls to 0-5 all-time in Big South Championship contests against the Lady Flames.
Winthrop got on the board first, when Yvonne van Daalen spun in a driving, left-handed layup on the game's opening possession. However, it was the Eagles' only lead of the contest, as the Lady Flames answered with a 6-0 burst. Moriah Frazee made four straight foul shots to finish off the run, putting Liberty in front by a 6-2 count at the 17:29 mark.
Megan Frazee scored on back-to-back possessions, including a perimeter jumper from the left corner at 13:53, bolstering the Lady Flames' advantage to 12-6.
Winthrop twice got to within two points, including at 14-12 when reserve Jessica Fansler canned a 15-foot jumper from the corner, 11:53 before the intermission.
Liberty then went on a 14-4 surge, including its first three triples of the afternoon. Rebecca Lightfoot's trey from the top of the key at 6:29 closed out the run, giving the Lady Flames a 28-16 advantage.
Liberty took its largest lead of the opening stanza, 32-18, into the locker room, after holding the Eagles to two made field goals in the final 11:52 of the half. The Lady Flames' swarming defense forced Winthrop into four shot clock violations during the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Lady Flames shot 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from the field in the first half, as compared to 35 percent (7-of-20) for the Eagles. Liberty won the rebounding battle, 18-8, and kept Winthrop from nabbing a single offensive rebound prior to the intermission.
Individually, Megan Frazee continued her stellar play at the Big South Championship, matching Winthrop's team totals for both points (18) and rebounds (8) single-handedly during the first half. Moriah Frazee added four points, while Amber Mays totaled three points and a matching number of rebounds.
Winthrop's No. 40, Ashley Fann, scored half (9) of her team's points during the opening 20 minutes. Point guard Yvonne van Daalen distributed three of the Eagles' four first-half assists.
Megan Frazee scored the second half's first four tallies, enabling Liberty to double up Winthrop's score, 36-18, just 59 seconds into the period.
The Eagles made three trifectas during an ensuing 14-4 run, and Tiffany Rodd's long-distance connection with 13:57 left put her team back to within single digits, 40-32.
Winthrop was still well within striking distance at the 9:08 mark, when Ashley Haugtvedt canned a mid-range jumper to make the score 47-38, Lady Flames.
However, the Eagles only made one more field goal the rest of the way, as Liberty closed the contest with a 14-4 surge to open up some breathing room. The final score ended up 61-42, sending Liberty to its 12th Big South Championship title contest.
The Lady Flames shot a solid 47.7 percent (21-of-44) from the field during the contest, and Liberty was able to corral 16 of its missed shots, leading to 15 second-chance points.
Liberty, the Big South's No. 1 team in free throw percentage, nailed 83.3 percent (15-of-18) of its charity tosses on Saturday, including 8-of-10 in the second half.
Megan Frazee connected on all four of her free throws, as part of her fifth double-double in six career Big South Championship outings. Former Lady Flame standout Katie (Feenstra) Mattera was among the sizable throng of Liberty fans in attendance at the Millis Center, and she saw Frazee take down a couple of her career marks.
Frazee's double-double was the 50th of her career in her 100th career appearance, breaking Feenstra's school record of 49 double-doubles. The Xenia, Ohio native also catapulted past Feenstra and into second place on the Liberty scoring list and fifth place on the Big South scoring ledger. Frazee has now scored 1,863 career points.
Frazee was not the only key cog in Liberty's victory, though. Avery Warley outrebounded the Eagles by herself after halftime, collecting eight of her 10 boards in the second half. Warley now ranks third on Liberty's freshman rebounding list, with 230 boards during her rookie campaign.
Moriah Frazee and Rachel McLeod chipped in eight points apiece for the victors, with both players hitting four-of-four from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Mays fashioned a strong, all-around effort with five points, five rebounds and a team-best four assists.
Fellow senior van Daalen complemented Fann's effort with eight points and a game-high seven assists for the Eagles. Rodd, the Big South's all-time leader in three-pointers made, hit a pair from downtown in a six-point afternoon.
Post-game Quotes
Liberty Head Coach Carey Green
"First of all, I'd like to congratulate Winthrop. They fought through some adversity this season and were able to pull things together well to finish the season strong. Our team came out pretty well focused this afternoon. We were able to do some things defensively which were pleasing to me. We had our ‘A' game going in the first half. Winthrop made a good run in the second half, but we were fortunate to keep executing our offense and were able to keep them at bay."
Winthrop Head Coach Bud Childers
"First off I want to congratulate Liberty. They were very tough this year and got us three times. Megan Frazee stepped up and proved why she was the Player of the Year, as she had a great game. We got back into the game in the second half by executing what we worked on, but we just couldn't keep them off the boards."
Team Stats
WU
LIBERTY
FG%
.341
.477
3FG%
.308
.444
FT%
.727
.833
RB
15
41
TO
12
17
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Pts
28
FGM
11
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
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