Monday, March 9
High Point, N.C.
7:00 PM
Liberty University
21-8, 15-1BSC
53
at
58
High Point
14-15, 10-6BSC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | 24 | 29 | 53 |
| High Point | 28 | 30 | 58 |
High Point Halts Lady Flames Win Streak
3/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
High Point closed its hard-fought contest with the Liberty Lady Flames on a 9-2 run over the last 3:45 at the Millis Center, Monday evening, propelling the Panthers to a 58-53 triumph in the regular-season finale for both teams. The High Point victory snapped Liberty's 18-game winning streak and handed the Lady Flames their first Big South loss of the season.
Liberty, now 21-8 overall and 15-1 in Big South games, was limited to a season-low 31.1 percent (19-of-61) shooting from the field. The Lady Flames also saw their eight-game road winning streak and 19-game winning skein against conference opponents come to an end.
High Point, led by Jurica Hargraves' five triples and game-high 21 points, improves to 14-15 overall and 10-6 in the Big South. The Panthers are now 11-2 at the Millis Center, where High Point will host the 2009 Advance Auto Parts Big South Women's Basketball Championship, beginning Friday.
Liberty will be the No. 1 seed and High Point the No. 2 seed in the Big South Women's Basketball Championship, meaning tonight's game may have been a preview of the championship tilt, scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday. The full tournament bracket will be announced later tonight.
The two teams went back and forth for the first 10 minutes of play, with neither side owning a lead of larger than four points.
High Point took a four-point advantage, 16-12, with 9:33 remaining in the first half, after Frances Fields posted four tallies during a 7-2 surge.
The Panthers held the Lady Flames without a field goal for nearly eight minutes during the latter stages of the opening stanza. High Point's stiff defense led to a 26-19 lead, when LaTeisha Dean converted a steal into a fast break layup, 1:37 before the intermission.
Megan Frazee scored Liberty's final five points of the half, helping the Lady Flames trim their deficit to 28-24 at the break. It was the first time Liberty trailed at halftime since Dec. 30 at Virginia Tech.
Both teams struggled at the offensive end during the first 20 minutes. Liberty shot only 25 perecent (8-of-32) from the floor, while High Point made 28.6 percent (8-of-28) of its field goal attempts. So many missed shots meant numerous rebounding opportunities, and the Lady Flames outrebounded their hosts, 26-20.
Megan Frazee nearly fashioned her 12th double-double of the season during the first half, totaling 12 points and nine rebounds. Avery Warley added four points, despite being limited to five minutes of playing time due to foul trouble. Moriah Frazee grabbed six boards for the Lady Flames.
Coach Tooey Loy's High Point squad got zero bench points in the first half, but all five of his starters got their names in the scorebook, led by Hargraves' nine points on a trio of triples. Mackenzie Maier added seven points and blocked three Liberty shot attempts.
High Point scored the first three points of the second half, matching its largest lead to that point, 31-24.
Liberty then posted a 9-2 run, knotting the game at 33-33 on Warley's driving, right-handed layup at the 16:27 mark.
Rachel Hammond's second-chance hoop with 14:27 left gave Liberty its first lead since 10-9, at 39-38. Her connection was part of a 6-0 burst, which ended 46 seconds later, when another Warley basket made it 41-38, Lady Flames.
High Point came back to tie the score three separate times, before Dean's putback with 7:03 remaining put the home team back in front, 49-47.
Liberty reclaimed the lead, 51-49, with 4:07 to play, after Megan Frazee scored four consecutive points. However, the Lady Flames did not score again until just 1.5 seconds remained in the contest.
Maier's trey from the right wing, just 22 seconds later, gave High Point the advantage for good, 52-51.
By the time Warley scored from short range at the 1.5-second mark, the Panthers had sealed their 58-53 victory with a runner by Shamia Brown and four free throws.
High Point did not shoot much better from the field than the Lady Flames, as the Panthers sank only 32.7 percent (17-of-52) of their field goals on the evening. However, High Point drilled seven three-pointers, while the Lady Flames were held without a trey for the first time since Feb. 21, 2005. Liberty had made a three-pointer in a school-record 131 straight outings, prior to a 0-for-7 night from beyond the arc on Monday.
Liberty won the battle of the boards, 47-33, converting 17 offensive caroms into 21 second-chance points. Meanwhile, High Point forced 20 Lady Flame miscues, including five in the final 3:27.
Both Frazee sisters reached double figures in the rebounding column, led by Megan Frazee's game-high 13 boards. The senior wrapped up her 12th double-double of the season with 19 points. Frazee has now totaled 48 career double-doubles, leaving her one shy of Katie Feenstra's school record 49 double-doubles.
Moriah Frazee ended the game with six points and 10 rebounds. She now has 579 career caroms, ranking No. 10 in Liberty history.
Warley contributed 10 of her 14 points and pulled down six of her seven boards during the second half. The Big South field goal percentage leader shot 7-for-9 for the contest.
Hargraves, who has now made 16 three-pointers in her first five career meetings with the Lady Flames, added three of the Panthers' 13 steals. Maier joined her classmate in double figures, ending with a dozen points and five blocked shots. Dean, High Point's leading rebounder, finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Liberty, now 21-8 overall and 15-1 in Big South games, was limited to a season-low 31.1 percent (19-of-61) shooting from the field. The Lady Flames also saw their eight-game road winning streak and 19-game winning skein against conference opponents come to an end.
High Point, led by Jurica Hargraves' five triples and game-high 21 points, improves to 14-15 overall and 10-6 in the Big South. The Panthers are now 11-2 at the Millis Center, where High Point will host the 2009 Advance Auto Parts Big South Women's Basketball Championship, beginning Friday.
Liberty will be the No. 1 seed and High Point the No. 2 seed in the Big South Women's Basketball Championship, meaning tonight's game may have been a preview of the championship tilt, scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday. The full tournament bracket will be announced later tonight.
The two teams went back and forth for the first 10 minutes of play, with neither side owning a lead of larger than four points.
High Point took a four-point advantage, 16-12, with 9:33 remaining in the first half, after Frances Fields posted four tallies during a 7-2 surge.
The Panthers held the Lady Flames without a field goal for nearly eight minutes during the latter stages of the opening stanza. High Point's stiff defense led to a 26-19 lead, when LaTeisha Dean converted a steal into a fast break layup, 1:37 before the intermission.
Megan Frazee scored Liberty's final five points of the half, helping the Lady Flames trim their deficit to 28-24 at the break. It was the first time Liberty trailed at halftime since Dec. 30 at Virginia Tech.
Both teams struggled at the offensive end during the first 20 minutes. Liberty shot only 25 perecent (8-of-32) from the floor, while High Point made 28.6 percent (8-of-28) of its field goal attempts. So many missed shots meant numerous rebounding opportunities, and the Lady Flames outrebounded their hosts, 26-20.
Megan Frazee nearly fashioned her 12th double-double of the season during the first half, totaling 12 points and nine rebounds. Avery Warley added four points, despite being limited to five minutes of playing time due to foul trouble. Moriah Frazee grabbed six boards for the Lady Flames.
Coach Tooey Loy's High Point squad got zero bench points in the first half, but all five of his starters got their names in the scorebook, led by Hargraves' nine points on a trio of triples. Mackenzie Maier added seven points and blocked three Liberty shot attempts.
High Point scored the first three points of the second half, matching its largest lead to that point, 31-24.
Liberty then posted a 9-2 run, knotting the game at 33-33 on Warley's driving, right-handed layup at the 16:27 mark.
Rachel Hammond's second-chance hoop with 14:27 left gave Liberty its first lead since 10-9, at 39-38. Her connection was part of a 6-0 burst, which ended 46 seconds later, when another Warley basket made it 41-38, Lady Flames.
High Point came back to tie the score three separate times, before Dean's putback with 7:03 remaining put the home team back in front, 49-47.
Liberty reclaimed the lead, 51-49, with 4:07 to play, after Megan Frazee scored four consecutive points. However, the Lady Flames did not score again until just 1.5 seconds remained in the contest.
Maier's trey from the right wing, just 22 seconds later, gave High Point the advantage for good, 52-51.
By the time Warley scored from short range at the 1.5-second mark, the Panthers had sealed their 58-53 victory with a runner by Shamia Brown and four free throws.
High Point did not shoot much better from the field than the Lady Flames, as the Panthers sank only 32.7 percent (17-of-52) of their field goals on the evening. However, High Point drilled seven three-pointers, while the Lady Flames were held without a trey for the first time since Feb. 21, 2005. Liberty had made a three-pointer in a school-record 131 straight outings, prior to a 0-for-7 night from beyond the arc on Monday.
Liberty won the battle of the boards, 47-33, converting 17 offensive caroms into 21 second-chance points. Meanwhile, High Point forced 20 Lady Flame miscues, including five in the final 3:27.
Both Frazee sisters reached double figures in the rebounding column, led by Megan Frazee's game-high 13 boards. The senior wrapped up her 12th double-double of the season with 19 points. Frazee has now totaled 48 career double-doubles, leaving her one shy of Katie Feenstra's school record 49 double-doubles.
Moriah Frazee ended the game with six points and 10 rebounds. She now has 579 career caroms, ranking No. 10 in Liberty history.
Warley contributed 10 of her 14 points and pulled down six of her seven boards during the second half. The Big South field goal percentage leader shot 7-for-9 for the contest.
Hargraves, who has now made 16 three-pointers in her first five career meetings with the Lady Flames, added three of the Panthers' 13 steals. Maier joined her classmate in double figures, ending with a dozen points and five blocked shots. Dean, High Point's leading rebounder, finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Team Stats
LIBERTY
HPU
FG%
.311
.327
3FG%
.000
.333
FT%
.833
.773
RB
47
33
TO
20
13
STL
8
13
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
14
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Saturday, March 14
Friday, March 13
Thursday, March 12
Tuesday, March 10