LU Regular-Season Finale Monday at High Point
3/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Game Day Central
The Game
The Liberty Lady Flames (21-7, 15-0 Big South) will get to preview the Millis Center facility, just four days prior to the start of the 2009 Big South Women's Basketball Championship. Liberty will wrap up its regular-season schedule at High Point (13-15, 9-6 Big South), Monday evening at 7 p.m.
What to Watch
Liberty, which has already set a Big South record with 15 conference victories, will attempt to become the first Big South women's basketball team ever to post a 16-0 conference record.
High Point, which has won back-to-back contests and is 10-2 at home, can wrap up the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament with a victory over the Lady Flames.
Liberty will attempt to extend several winning streaks. The Lady Flames have won eight straight road games, 18 straight games overall and 19 straight games versus conference opponents.
The contest matches up Liberty's Megan Frazee, who has won six Big South Player of the Week awards this season, and High Point's Shamia Brown, who has garnered the same number of Big South Freshman of the Week honors.
Lady Flames On The Air
All Lady Flames basketball games may be heard LIVE on WWMC 90.9 FM "The Light." Jamie Hall, celebrating his 15th year of broadcasting Lady Flames basketball, will once again be handling the courtside play-by-play duties for most road games. Josh Wood will serve as the commentator for home contests and will provide color analysis on the road. Former Lady Flame Egle Smigelskaite will serve as a special guest analyst for Monday night's contest at High Point.
Scouting High Point
Like most teams in the Big South this season, High Point has played exceptionally well at home. The Panthers are 10-2 at the Millis Center, with the only two home setbacks coming to Georgia Southern and Charleston Southern. This bodes well for High Point, which will host the 2009 Big South Women's Basketball Championship, March 13-15.
A win on Monday would make High Point the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Sophomore Jurica Hargraves will be a key to the Panthers' success, as the 5-4 sophomore guard leads the team and ranks third in the conference with 13.0 ppg.
Freshman Shamia Brown, a 5-11 forward, has garnered a conference-best six Big South Freshman of the Week plaudits. She is the Big South's top freshman scorer, at 11.7 ppg, and sits third among conference rookies in rebounds per game (6.1).
Mackenzie Maier, a 6-3 sophomore forward/center, was the 2007-08 Big South Freshman of the Year. As an encore performance, Maier is posting 10.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg and a conference-high 2.5 bpg.
The Coaching Matchup
Liberty Head Coach Carey Green is in his 10th season with the Lady Flames, and has led his team to eight Big South titles. A four-time Big South Coach of the Year, Green owns a 234-75 career record and is the all-time wins leader at Liberty and among Big South women's basketball coaches. His career winning percentage (.757) ranked 10th among active NCAA Division I women's basketball coaches at the season's outset. Green is 19-5 all-time versus High Point.
Tooey Loy owns a 128-105 record in his eighth season coaching at his alma mater. He is a two-time Big South Coach of the Year (2005 and 2007) and has led the Panthers to five top-three finishes in the Big South regular-season standings, prior to this season. He is 4-14 versus Liberty during his coaching career.
Liberty-High Point Series Notes
Liberty, which will attempt to complete a season sweep of the Panthers, is 23-8 all-time against High Point. The Lady Flames have won four straight matchups with High Point, after the Panthers had taken four of the teams' previous six meetings. High Point swept the 2006-07 season series from Liberty, becoming the only team in the last 11 seasons to do so.
The Lady Flames have been victorious in eight of their last 10 visits to the Millis Center. High Point's last win over Liberty on its home court was a 64-62 overtime decision on Jan. 20, 2007. That Millis Center contest is the Lady Flames' most recent overtime game.
Liberty owned a slim, one-half game lead over High Point atop the Big South standings when the Panthers visited the Vines Center earlier this season, on Jan. 31. However, the Lady Flames jumped out to a 17-5 lead and never looked back, posting a 65-42 triumph. Rachel Hammond led the victors with a career-high 25 points on five three-pointers. Megan Frazee added a double-double, with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
For High Point, Shamia Brown and Mackenzie Maier each scored a team-best eight points. Jurica Hargraves, who made 11 triples in three matchups against Liberty as a freshman, misfired on all four of her long-distance attempts that evening.
Masterful in March
Liberty has gone 33-10 during the month of March under Carey Green, with eight of the setbacks coming in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Flames are 9-1 in the regular season, 22-1 in the Big South Championship and 2-8 in the "Big Dance" during the year's third month, under his direction. Last season, Liberty went 4-1 in March. This year, the Lady Flames are off to a 2-0 start during the calendar year's third month.
The Lady Flames are 41-35 all-time in March contests and did not pick up their first victory in the month until the program's 13th season. Liberty's initial March triumph was an 82-69 win over Randolph-Macon on March 3, 1988.
Making Some History
Liberty's 80-61 win at Radford Friday evening was the Lady Flames' 15th conference victory this season. Liberty becomes the first Big South women's basketball team ever to win 15 conference games in a single season.
The Lady Flames will now attempt to become the seventh team ever to finish the Big South women's basketball slate unbeaten. Liberty has done so on three previous occasions (1997-98, 2002-03 and 2003-04), the most of any Big South member.
Long-Range Bombers
Megan Frazee, tied for eighth on Liberty's career list with 95 triples, has hit 20 of her last 36 from downtown (55.6 percent).
Rachel Hammond, whose 78 career three-pointers rank 11th on the list, has connected on 26 of her last 48 three-point attempts (54.2 percent). Hammond made a program-record nine consecutive triples without a miss, between Jan. 24-31.
Hammond made five treys against High Point on Jan. 31, marking the first time a Lady Flame has connected on five three-pointers in a single game since Dec. 15, 2001, when Daina Staugaitiene did so at Hampton.
Accurate Avery
Avery Warley made 11 consecutive field goal attempts, between Feb. 9 and Feb. 21. The Big South field goal percentage leader at 63.6 percent, Warley has connected on 30 of her last 34 field goals (88.2 percent).
Streak Snapped
Radford's Davida Dodson made a long three-pointer with 20.3 seconds left to play in Friday night's game, making the Highlanders the first team to score more than 60 points against the Lady Flames since Vanderbilt on Dec. 22. Liberty had held 17 straight opponents under 60 points, with 11 of the teams failing to reach 50 points.
Magnificent Mondays
Liberty has been at its best when playing on Mondays this season, going 8-1 in nine Monday outings. The Lady Flames' only Monday setback came on Dec. 22, at Vanderbilt. Since then, Liberty has won eight straight Monday tilts, by an average score of 70.6-46.9.
The Lady Flames' Monday victories include a 72-58 triumph over MEAC-leading North Carolina A&T on Dec. 29 at the Hokie Hardwood Classic. Liberty also snapped Gardner-Webb's nine-game home winning streak with a 58-51 win at Paul Porter Arena on Feb. 9.
Coach Green Versus the Big South
Liberty head coach Carey Green has enjoyed considerable success versus the Big South during his first nine seasons with the Lady Flames. His teams are 151-13 against Big South opponents, including 127-12 in the regular season and 24-1 in the Big South Championship.
Green has never lost to his alma mater, Coastal Carolina (23-0), or Charleston Southern (22-0) during his time at Liberty.
Winning Streaks
The Lady Flames are currently on an 18-game winning streak, as they have not lost a game since falling at No. 19/20 Vanderbilt on Dec. 22.
The streak is the fourth longest in program history. Here is a look at the Lady Flames' longest winning streaks, eight of which have come with Carey Green as head coach.
1) 28 games (Nov. 21, 1997 - Feb. 28, 1998)
2) 22 games (Dec. 21, 2002 - March 9, 2003)
3) 19 games (Jan. 6, 2004 - March 13, 2004)
4) 18 games (Dec. 29, 2008 - Present)
5) 14 games (Jan. 28, 2006 - March 11, 2006)
6T) 13 games (Jan. 5, 2008 - Feb. 23, 2008)
6T) 13 games (Jan. 24, 2002 - March 2, 2002)
8T) 12 games (Jan. 15, 2005 - Feb. 21, 2005)
8T) 12 games (Jan. 23, 1999 - Feb. 27, 1999)
10) 11 games (Feb. 3, 2000 - March 4, 2000)
Finishing Strong
Liberty has traditionally entered the Big South Women's Basketball Championship on the right foot. The Lady Flames have won their final game of the regular season in 10 of the last 11 years. The only exception was a 77-54 setback at Radford on March 3, 2007.
The last 10 times Liberty has triumphed in its final regular-season outing, the Lady Flames have gone on to win the Big South Championship crown.
This will be the first time since 1996-97 that Liberty has not faced Commonwealth foe Radford in the regular-season finale.
20-20 Club
Liberty has made Big South Conference basketball history this season. Not only have the Lady Flames reached the 20-win plateau, but Coach Ritchie McKay's squad also owns a 22-11 ledger, through the Big South Men's Basketball Championship.
The university boasts a pair of 20-win basketball teams for only the second time in program history. In 1996-97, the Lady Flames went 22-7, while their male counterparts racked up a 23-9 mark.
The feat had only been accomplished on four previous occasions in Big South annals: by Radford in 1991-92, UNC Greensboro in 1994-95, Liberty in 1996-97 and Winthrop last season. Liberty is the first conference school to make two appearances in the 20/20 club.
Liberty in the National Rankings
During Liberty's winning streak, the Lady Flames have been surging upward in the NCAA national statistical rankings. Liberty now ranks in the top 10 nationally in four statistical categories. The Lady Flames lead the nation in rebounding margin (+12.3) are No. 3 in both scoring defense (51.8 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.339) and No. 10 in field goal percentage (.456).
Liberty and No. 1 Connecticut are the only two teams in the nation which rank in the top 10 of all four of those categories.
Lack of Overtime
Liberty has played only one overtime game in its last 174 outings, a 64-62 setback at High Point on Jan. 20, 2007.
The Lady Flames' most recent overtime victory came on Jan. 6, 2004, when Liberty defeated American, 76-72, on the road in double overtime. No current Lady Flame has won an overtime contest in college.
Liberty's most recent overtime contest at the Vines Center was a memorable one. The Lady Flames defeated Virginia, 77-69, in overtime on Nov. 26, 2002, to claim their first-ever win over the Cavaliers. It also marked Liberty's first win over a ranked opponent, as Virginia entered the game with a No. 25 national ranking.
The Container is Half Full
Liberty connected on 62.5 percent (30-of-48) of its field goal attempts versus Radford on Friday, shooting over 50 percent for the eighth time in the last 11 games. The Lady Flames are 9-0 this year, when making more than half of their field goals. Liberty is now 58-0 in such contests under head coach Carey Green.
Miss Consistency
Megan Frazee has scored in double figures in each of her last 64 games, dating back to Jan. 27, 2007. It is the longest such streak of her career and is a new program record.
Elena Kisseleva owned the previous Liberty standard, tallying 10 or more points in 62 straight contests, spanning the 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.
Miss Consistency, Part 2
Megan Frazee's streak of 64 straight games scoring in double figures is the longest active streak in the nation, among NCAA Division I women's basketball players. Morgan Warburton of Utah ranks a close second, with 63 consecutive double-digit contests.
Chasing Another Record
Megan Frazee has posted 11 double-doubles this season, including one in seven of her last nine outings, pushing her career total to 47. Katie Feenstra owns the program record, with 49 career double-doubles.
Playing with a Lead
Liberty has not trailed often during its last 13 games. The Lady Flames led eight of those contests from wire to wire, and their opponents have held the lead for only 7:39 of the last 520 minutes of action.
Winning the Battle of the Boards
The Lady Flames have outrebounded 24 teams in their first 28 games of the season. Only three teams (Western Carolina, James Madison and Winthrop) have won the rebounding battle against Liberty this season, as the Lady Flames lead the Big South Conference with a +12.1 rebounding margin.
Liberty, which currently ranks No. 1 nationally for rebounding margin, has finished in the top five nationally in the category for five consecutive seasons. The Lady Flames led the nation in rebounding margin during both the 2003-04 and 2004-05 campaigns.
