Liberty University
0-2
College of Charleston
1-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | 24 | 22 | 46 |
| College of Charleston | 23 | 26 | 49 |
Late Triple Sinks Lady Flames, 49-46
11/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
College of Charleston's Tonia Gerty nailed an off-balance three-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining Saturday evening, lifting the Cougars to a 49-46 win over Liberty in the consolation game of the Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational at Reynolds Coliseum.
The game was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than six points at any stage. There were 19 lead changes, and Gerty's triple broke the contest's 11th tie.
Liberty starts its year at 0-2 for the first time since 2000-01, despite a 42-28 rebounding advantage. College of Charleston, a 21-win team last season, evened its record at 1-1 largely due to Gerty's game-high 19 points and five steals.
It took nearly four minutes before either team made a field goal. Rachel McLeod broke the ice, hitting a shot from the left block off an inbounds pass to tie the score, 3-3, at the 16:20 mark.
Gerty scored College of Charleston's first 12 points of the evening, including five markers during a 7-0 burst midway through the half. Cathryn Hardy's hoop from the paint at 9:25 put the Cougars ahead, 14-8.
Liberty countered with a 9-0 run, capped by Avery Warley's putback hoop. Her connection gave the Lady Flames a 17-14 advantage, 5:38 before halftime.
Six lead changes later, Liberty took a slim 24-23 lead into the locker room. Jelena Antic's turnaround, fadeway jumper from the right baseline as time expired reclaimed the lead for the Lady Flames.
Liberty controlled the paint during the first half, scoring 16 points in the paint and outrebounding the Cougars, 24-12. The Lady Flames also held College of Charleston to 28.6 percent field goal shooting and just four made field goals.
However, the Cougars stayed close due to 15 Liberty turnovers and a pronounced difference from the foul line. College of Charleston shot 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) during the opening 20 minutes, while the Lady Flames hit just 3-of-12 (25 percent) of their charity tosses.
Antic scored six of Liberty's final seven points of the stanza and led the Lady Flames with nine first-half tallies. Warley, Tolu Omotola and Kylee Beecher grabbed five rebounds apiece.
The Cougars' Gerty did not score for the remainder of the half after her hot start, but paced all players with a dozen first-half points.
Liberty fashioned a 5-0 surge early in the second period to take a 29-25 lead, when Dymond Morgan split a pair of free throws at the 16:55 mark.
College of Charleston answered with an 11-2 run, featuring eight straight points by Megan Fischer. Her fast break layup at 12:31 lifted the Cougars to a 36-31 advantage.
College of Charleston was still on top by five points, before Antic scored seven straight points by herself. She made a single free throw with 1:48 remaining, giving Liberty a 44-42 edge.
The Cougars had gone nearly six minutes without a point, before Fischer's baseline jumper knotted the contest up at 44-44 at the 1:32 mark.
Omotola scored from the right block at 1:13, but Gerty countered with a pair of free throws with 58.3 seconds left, leveling things at 46 apiece.
A Liberty turnover then set the stage for Gerty's game-winning shot. Danika Dale got off a three-point attempt as the clock ticked to 0.0, but it caromed off the rim and the Cougars hung on for a 49-46 decision.
Liberty finished with the statistical advantage in many areas. In addition to their previously mentioned rebounding edge, the Lady Flames outshot the Cougars from the field (36.5 percent to 33.3 percent), outscored them in the paint (32-12) and tallied 16 bench points to the Cougars' 10.
Two key statistics made the difference, however. College of Charleston converted Liberty's 26 turnovers into 22 points, including the winning three. The Cougars also made 72.7 percent (16-of-22) of their foul shots, as compared with just 41.2 percent (7-of-17) for the Lady Flames.
Antic was the only Lady Flame to score in double figures, finishing with 16 points, including seven of Liberty's last nine markers. She was also Liberty's only representative on the all-tournament team.
Omotola added six points and shared the game rebounding lead with Beecher. Both Lady Flame posts hauled in nine boards on Saturday, and the effort made Beecher one of the top 50 rebounders in program history. The junior now ranks No. 50 on the list with 291 career boards.
Liberty freshman point guard Emily Frazier had a solid performance on her 20th birthday, playing 27 minutes without a turnover, while totaling six points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Fischer scored 10 of her 14 points after halftime to spark the Cougars. Deidra Ramer came off the bench to collect five rebounds.
Liberty will return to Lynchburg for its 2010-11 home opener, Tuesday evening versus Virginia Union. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Vines Center.
Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational All-Tournament Team
Amber White, N.C. State (MVP)
Marissa Kastanek, N.C. State
Bonae Holston, N.C. State
Kelsey Woodard, Creighton
Tonia Gerty, College of Charleston
Jelena Antic, Liberty
Tournament Champion: N.C. State (2-0)
