Tuesday, January 5
Lynchburg, Va.
7:00 PM
Liberty University
8-4
57
vs
51
North Carolina A&T
6-7
1st half1
2nd half2
FinalF
North Carolina A&T
27
24
51
Liberty
33
24
57
Freshmen Push Liberty Past North Carolina A&T
1/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Freshmen Devon Brown and Jelena Antic combined for 31 points and 17 rebounds, Tuesday evening at the Vines Center, helping Liberty claim a 57-51 victory over North Carolina A&T.
The Lady Flames withstood several late comeback attempts by the defending MEAC champions, snapping a two-game losing streak. Liberty, now 8-4 overall, extended several streaks in its first home game in a month. The Lady Flames have won seven straight meetings with the Aggies, 30 consecutive contests against MEAC foes and 38 straight January home games.
Meanwhile, North Carolina A&T, playing without injured leading scorer Ta'Wuana Cook, saw its two-game winning streak halted. The Aggies, who have played only one home game so far this season, fall to 6-7.
Blue-clad North Carolina A&T used four Jaquayla Berry points to take a 4-2 advantage during the first 1:36 of play.
Liberty then outscored the Aggies, 23-7, over the next 10:29, with Antic accounting for 12 of the Lady Flames' points. Her pair of free throws at the 7:55 mark gave Liberty its largest lead of the opening stanza, 25-11.
The Aggies battled back and trimmed their deficit to 31-25 after a Berry three-pointer capped a 6-0 burst, 3:20 before halftime.
Liberty carried the same six-point advantage into the locker room at halftime, 33-27.
The Lady Flames shot the ball well during the opening 20 minutes of play, hitting 50 percent (13-of-26) of their field goals and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) of their free throws. The Aggies shot 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the floor and made a trio of first-half three-pointers.
Liberty won the rebounding battle before intermission by a wide, 20-8 count and scored 26 of its 33 points from either the paint or at the charity stripe.
Antic tied her career high for points in a game during the opening stanza with 12 points. Brown was also effective in the first half, finishing with seven points, a team-high seven rebounds and three assists.
Jaleesa Sams paced the visiting Aggies in both points (11) and rebounds (3) before the break, while Berry chipped in seven points.
Back-to-back mid-range jumpers by Crystal Murdaugh finished off a 7-0 North Carolina A&T run, early in the second half. Her second hoop, which swished through the net with 14:47 left, brought the Aggies to within a single point, at 37-36.
Liberty then turned up its defensive pressure, limiting the visitors to two points during the next eight minutes. During the meantime, the Lady Flames' advantage climbed back to nine points. Brown's tip-in at 8:34 made the score 47-38, Liberty.
North Carolina A&T responded with an 8-2 surge, pulling to within 49-46 with 4:15 to play, after Amber Calvin made four foul shots within a 30-second span.
Antic and Brown then combined to put the Aggies away. Antic made two free throws and then assisted on a Brown fast break layup, lifting Liberty to a 53-46 edge with just 2:17 remaining.
The Aggies got no closer than five points down the rest of the way, as the Lady Flames closed out their first win in a game decided by 10 points or fewer in 2009-10.
Both teams slowed down offensively during the second half, as Liberty shot just 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from the floor and North Carolina A&T made 36 percent (9-of-25) of its attempts. For the game, the Aggies finished with a slight advantage in field goal shooting (39.6 percent to 38.9 percent).
Liberty asserted itself around the basket, leading the way in rebounds (45-28), points in the paint (32-18) and second chance points (17-0).
Brown led all players in both points (17) and rebounds (13), equaling her career high in the latter category and recording her third career double-double. Meanwhile, Antic contributed a career-high 14 points, four boards and a career-best four assists.
Avery Warley saw her streak of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts stopped at four, but collected 11 rebounds to go along with her nine points. Dymond Morgan also played a key role in the Lady Flames' victory, scoring three of her five points during the game's final minute and tying her career high with three steals.
Three Aggies scored in double figures on the evening, led by Berry, who started in place of Cook. She tied her career high with a team-best 14 points, while also collecting five rebounds. Sams added 11 points and six boards, while Calvin chipped in 10 markers. Lamona Smalley tracked down a team-leading seven rebounds for North Carolina A&T.
Liberty will continue its homestand Saturday at 7 p.m., when the Lady Flames step back into Big South Conference play. The Lady Flames' home conference opener will pit them against Winthrop, which is 6-7 overall and 1-0 in the Big South.
North Carolina A&T will also play a conference game Saturday. The Aggies will travel to Florida A&M for a MEAC tilt, slated for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
The Lady Flames withstood several late comeback attempts by the defending MEAC champions, snapping a two-game losing streak. Liberty, now 8-4 overall, extended several streaks in its first home game in a month. The Lady Flames have won seven straight meetings with the Aggies, 30 consecutive contests against MEAC foes and 38 straight January home games.
Meanwhile, North Carolina A&T, playing without injured leading scorer Ta'Wuana Cook, saw its two-game winning streak halted. The Aggies, who have played only one home game so far this season, fall to 6-7.
Blue-clad North Carolina A&T used four Jaquayla Berry points to take a 4-2 advantage during the first 1:36 of play.
Liberty then outscored the Aggies, 23-7, over the next 10:29, with Antic accounting for 12 of the Lady Flames' points. Her pair of free throws at the 7:55 mark gave Liberty its largest lead of the opening stanza, 25-11.
The Aggies battled back and trimmed their deficit to 31-25 after a Berry three-pointer capped a 6-0 burst, 3:20 before halftime.
Liberty carried the same six-point advantage into the locker room at halftime, 33-27.
The Lady Flames shot the ball well during the opening 20 minutes of play, hitting 50 percent (13-of-26) of their field goals and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) of their free throws. The Aggies shot 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the floor and made a trio of first-half three-pointers.
Liberty won the rebounding battle before intermission by a wide, 20-8 count and scored 26 of its 33 points from either the paint or at the charity stripe.
Antic tied her career high for points in a game during the opening stanza with 12 points. Brown was also effective in the first half, finishing with seven points, a team-high seven rebounds and three assists.
Jaleesa Sams paced the visiting Aggies in both points (11) and rebounds (3) before the break, while Berry chipped in seven points.
Back-to-back mid-range jumpers by Crystal Murdaugh finished off a 7-0 North Carolina A&T run, early in the second half. Her second hoop, which swished through the net with 14:47 left, brought the Aggies to within a single point, at 37-36.
Liberty then turned up its defensive pressure, limiting the visitors to two points during the next eight minutes. During the meantime, the Lady Flames' advantage climbed back to nine points. Brown's tip-in at 8:34 made the score 47-38, Liberty.
North Carolina A&T responded with an 8-2 surge, pulling to within 49-46 with 4:15 to play, after Amber Calvin made four foul shots within a 30-second span.
Antic and Brown then combined to put the Aggies away. Antic made two free throws and then assisted on a Brown fast break layup, lifting Liberty to a 53-46 edge with just 2:17 remaining.
The Aggies got no closer than five points down the rest of the way, as the Lady Flames closed out their first win in a game decided by 10 points or fewer in 2009-10.
Both teams slowed down offensively during the second half, as Liberty shot just 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from the floor and North Carolina A&T made 36 percent (9-of-25) of its attempts. For the game, the Aggies finished with a slight advantage in field goal shooting (39.6 percent to 38.9 percent).
Liberty asserted itself around the basket, leading the way in rebounds (45-28), points in the paint (32-18) and second chance points (17-0).
Brown led all players in both points (17) and rebounds (13), equaling her career high in the latter category and recording her third career double-double. Meanwhile, Antic contributed a career-high 14 points, four boards and a career-best four assists.
Avery Warley saw her streak of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts stopped at four, but collected 11 rebounds to go along with her nine points. Dymond Morgan also played a key role in the Lady Flames' victory, scoring three of her five points during the game's final minute and tying her career high with three steals.
Three Aggies scored in double figures on the evening, led by Berry, who started in place of Cook. She tied her career high with a team-best 14 points, while also collecting five rebounds. Sams added 11 points and six boards, while Calvin chipped in 10 markers. Lamona Smalley tracked down a team-leading seven rebounds for North Carolina A&T.
Liberty will continue its homestand Saturday at 7 p.m., when the Lady Flames step back into Big South Conference play. The Lady Flames' home conference opener will pit them against Winthrop, which is 6-7 overall and 1-0 in the Big South.
North Carolina A&T will also play a conference game Saturday. The Aggies will travel to Florida A&M for a MEAC tilt, slated for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
Team Stats
NCATW
LIBERTY
FG%
.396
.389
3FG%
.294
.167
FT%
.500
.609
RB
28
45
TO
19
23
STL
9
11
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
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