WBB Game Day Central: Presbyterian
1/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Presbyterian Women's Basketball Webpage
The Game
Liberty (10-4, 1-1 Big South) will resume its Big South Conference slate Saturday at 4 p.m., with a home contest against the Presbyterian Blue Hose (2-12, 1-1 Big South). The Lady Flames have won all three previous matchups with the Blue Hose, by an average margin of 31.7 ppg.
Last Time Out
Double-doubles by freshmen Jelena Antic (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Devon Brown (16 points, 13 rebounds) highlighted Liberty's 78-55 victory over Route 460 rival Longwood, Tuesday evening at the Vines Center. The Lady Flames outrebounded the Lancers, 54-19, and scored 54 points in the paint.
On Deck
Liberty will play host to UNC Asheville Monday at 7 p.m., concluding its season-long five-game homestand at the Vines Center. The Bulldogs were the last visiting Big South team to win at Liberty, claiming a 54-51 victory on Feb. 24, 2007.
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 16th year of broadcasting Lady Flames basketball, will once again be handling the courtside play-by-play duties for road games. Nick Pierce and Josh Wood will serve as the primary commentators for home contests.
Lady Flames On TV
For the seventh season in a row, the Flames Sports Network (FSN) plans to broadcast all 15 home women's basketball games. FSN's regular announcing team will consist of Ray Jones on play-by-play and Jamie Hall on color.
Scouting Presbyterian
A young Presbyterian squad, which has regularly started three freshmen, enters Saturday's game coming off of its best performance of the season. Led by 19 points apiece from Amanda Mills and Kristen Stevens, the Blue Hose picked up their first Big South win of the year on Monday, 65-54 over UNC Asheville. The victory took place at the Templeton Center, where Presbyterian is 2-1 this season. However, the Blue Hose are winless in 11 contests played away from Clinton, S.C.
Leading the way for the Blue Hose is Mariah Pietrowski, a 6-2 freshman center who is an early candidate for Big South Freshman of the Year. She has won a trio of Big South Freshman of the Week honors, leads the conference with a .566 field goal percentage and ranks seventh in the Big South with 11.6 ppg.
Dria David, a 5-8 freshman guard, has also excelled during her first season at Presbyterian. She averages 7.9 ppg and leads the team in minutes played (29.8 mpg), rebounds (5.1 rpg), assists (2.4 apg) and steals (2.6 spg).
Liberty and Presbyterian have played two common opponents in 2009-10, Winston-Salem State and Winthrop. The Lady Flames opened the year with a 71-26 victory over Winston-Salem State and defeated the Eagles, 67-38, on Jan. 9. Meanwhile, the Blue Hose lost a 66-65 overtime tilt at Winston-Salem State on Nov. 21 and dropped their conference opener at Winthrop by a 57-40 count on Jan. 2.
The Coaching Matchup
Liberty Head Coach Carey Green is in his 11th season with the Lady Flames, and has led his team to nine Big South titles. A five-time Big South Coach of the Year, Green owns a 247-81 career record and is the all-time wins leader at Liberty and among Big South women's basketball coaches. His career winning percentage (.753) ranked ninth all-time among NCAA Division I women's basketball coaches at the season's outset. Green is 3-0 all-time versus Presbyterian.
Ronny Fisher is 6-37 in his second year as Presbyterian's head coach. He previously spent 10 years as an assistant coach for the Blue Hose men's basketball team. A 1990 graduate of Furman, Fisher is 0-2 coaching against Liberty.
Liberty-Presbyterian Series Notes
Liberty is 3-0 all-time versus Presbyterian, including 2-0 at the Vines Center. The Lady Flames' trio of victories over the Blue Hose have come by an average of 31.7 ppg.
Liberty won its two contests with Presbyterian during the 2008-09 season in very different ways. The Lady Flames needed a 15-2 run to open the second half of their Jan. 17, 2009 contest at the Templeton Center to open up some breathing room. Liberty hung on for a 59-49 road victory, aided by 14 Megan Frazee points. Amanda Mills poured in 21 points for the Blue Hose, pacing all players.
On March 2, 2009, the Lady Flames welcomed Presbyterian to the Vines Center for their final home game of the season. Liberty ran out to a 41-11 halftime edge and went on to claim a 71-33 triumph. Four of the Lady Flames' five starters scored in double figures, led by Megan Frazee's 13 markers. Mills again played a solid game against Liberty, hitting a trio of three-pointers as part of a 13-point afternoon.
Liberty Versus the Big South Conference
Liberty has enjoyed a considerable amount of success versus Big South Conference opposition, since joining the league in time for the 1991-92 season. The Lady Flames have won the conference tournament 12 times and captured 11 Big South regular-season championships.
Liberty is 228-68 (.770) all-time against Big South opponents, including 192-62 in regular-season matchups and 36-6 in Big South Championship tilts. During Carey Green's tenure as head coach, the Lady Flames are 155-15 (.912) when facing Big South foes.
The Lady Flames are 117-21 (.848) at the Vines Center against Big South foes. Liberty is 100-21 in regular-season home conference games at the facility and a perfect 17-0 in Big South Championship contests at the Vines Center. Liberty has won 15 straight Big South home games, since a 54-51 loss to UNC Asheville, Feb. 24, 2007.
New Year's Resolution
Liberty owns a 158-106 all-time record in January contests, including a 74-9 mark under head coach Carey Green. The Lady Flames' 70-65 setback at Gardner-Webb on Jan. 2 snapped a streak of 17 consecutive January wins for the Lady Flames.
Liberty is scheduled to play nine games this January, including five contests at the Vines Center. The Lady Flames, 3-1 so far this month, currently own a 40-game home winning streak during the month of January, since a 77-72 setback versus Elon, Jan. 13, 2000.
Working for the Weekend
Liberty has enjoyed weekend contests this season, going 6-1 in Friday and Saturday games. The Lady Flames are outscoring opponents by an average of 24.0 ppg during weekend tilts in 2009-10.
Double-Double x 2
Freshmen Jelena Antic (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Devon Brown (16 points, 13 rebounds) both crafted double-doubles during Tuesday's home win over Longwood. It marked the first time multiple Lady Flames have notched a double-double in the same game since Nov. 24, 2007. That day, sisters Megan Frazee (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Moriah Frazee (16 points, 11 rebounds) accomplished the feat in a 70-61 win over Houston, as part of the National City Xavier Invitational.
Cleaning the Glass
The Lady Flames claimed a season-high 26 offensive rebounds versus Longwood on Tuesday, leading to 19 second-chance points. Remarkably, Liberty racked up its 26 boards in just 36 non-deadball rebounding opportunities at the offensive end.
The last time Liberty grabbed at least 26 offensive caroms in a game was Jan. 29, 2008, in a 76-57 home Big South victory over High Point. Rebecca Lightfoot's seven offensive boards highlighted the Lady Flames' total of 27 offensive boards.
Antic's Award
Jelena Antic claimed her first Big South Freshman of the Week honor on Tuesday, after averaging 11.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 2.5 apg in wins over North Carolina A&T and Winthrop. She is the second different Lady Flame to win this award in 2009-10, as LaKendra Washington earned the weekly honor on Dec. 1.
Later that day, Antic got the next week started in fine fashion, racking up a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 78-55 home victory over Longwood.
Just Another Game for Avery
Redshirt sophomore Avery Warley grabbed five rebounds Tuesday versus Longwood, extending her streak to 20 consecutive games with at least five rebounds. The streak, which began March 6, 2009 at Radford, is the longest of Warley's career. It is also the longest streak by a Lady Flame since 2009 graduate Megan Frazee ended her career with 47 consecutive five-rebound contests (Dec. 20, 2007 through March 22, 2009).
70 is the Magic Number
Liberty is 5-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points in a game, extending a lengthy streak. The Lady Flames have now won 87 consecutive games when reaching the 70-point plateau offensively.
No. 24 Boston College was the most recent team to defeat Liberty when the Lady Flames tallied 70 points. The Eagles dealt the Lady Flames a 74-70 overtime loss, Dec. 6, 2003 at the Brown Classic.
Liberty has not dropped a game when scoring 70 points in regulation since Dec. 4, 2002. That day, the Lady Flames fell in a road contest at Commonwealth foe Richmond by an 88-74 count.
Big Wins, Tight Losses
The Lady Flames' 10 victories this season have come by an average of 25.0 points. Liberty's tightest win was a 57-51 home victory over North Carolina A&T on Jan. 5.
Meanwhile, Liberty has lost its four games by a total of 30 points. James Madison posted the widest margin of victory over the Lady Flames, defeating Liberty 60-50, Dec. 1 at the Vines Center.
Coach Green Versus the Big South
Liberty head coach Carey Green has enjoyed considerable success versus the Big South with the Lady Flames. His teams are 155-15 against Big South opponents, including 128-14 in the regular season and 27-1 in the Big South Championship.
Green has never lost to his alma mater, Coastal Carolina (23-0), Charleston Southern (23-0) or Presbyterian (3-0) during his time at Liberty.
Wanted for Theft
Liberty has employed an aggressive, trapping defense this season, helping the Lady Flames pace the Big South with 11.1 steals per contest. Liberty has tallied double-digit steals 11 times in its first 14 games of the year, after doing so only nine times during the entire 2008-09 campaign. Leading the way is senior Amber Mays, who has accounted for more than one-quarter (40) of the Lady Flames' 155 thefts.
Turning Up the Heat in the Furnace
The 2009-10 campaign is the 18th season the Liberty women's basketball team has called the Vines Center its full-time home. The "Furnace" has served as a favorable venue for the Lady Flames over the years. Liberty is 194-52 (.789) all-time at the Vines Center, including 10-2 last season.
The Lady Flames are 6-1 to start this year's 15-game home schedule and are 102-10 in their last 112 home games, dating back to the 2001-02 season.
