Friday, March 12
High Point, N.C.
5:30 PM
Liberty University
25-5, 14-2BSC
70
vs
52
No. 7 seed Radford
6-22, 5-11BSC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radford | 21 | 31 | 52 |
| Liberty | 33 | 37 | 70 |
Brown Leads LU Past Radford in BSC Opener
3/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Redshirt freshman Devon Brown's 23 points and eight rebounds helped No. 2 seed Liberty take down No. 7 seed Radford, 70-52, in the Advance Auto Parts Big South Women's Basketball Championship, Friday evening at the Millis Center.
Brown also reached a milestone during the second half, becoming the 51st player in program history to tally 500 career points and joining Elena Kisseleva as the only Lady Flames ever to do so as freshmen.
Liberty's eighth straight victory pushes the Lady Flames' season record to 25-5. The Lady Flames have now recorded seven 25-win campaigns in program history and have reached the semifinal round of the Big South Championship 14 straight times.
Liberty will now face the winner of Friday's final quarterfinal matchup, between No. 3 seed High Point and No. 6 seed Winthrop. The semifinal tilt will tip off Saturday at 3 p.m. and will be televised live by SportSouth and MASN.
Meanwhile, the Highlanders conclude their season at 6-22, after being limited to 36 percent (18-of-50) field goal shooting for the game.
Liberty scored four points before Radford attempted its first shot of the contest, on two Amber Mays free throws and a driving, left-handed layup by backcourt mate Rachel McLeod. The Lady Flames' game-opening surge reached 8-2, when Avery Warley drilled a layup at the 17:29 mark.
Denay Wood hit a pair of free throws at 16:49, bringing the Highlanders within four points, at 8-4. However, Radford did not score again until Victoria Hamilton canned a mid-range jumper 6:21 later.
In the meantime, Liberty took its first double-digit lead after a 7-0 run. Jelena Antic's pair of charity tosses 10:45 before halftime made it 15-4, Lady Flames.
Red-clad Radford answered with a 7-0 surge of its own. Wood's deep triple at 7:55 capped the burst, cutting the Highlanders' deficit to 15-11.
Liberty continued the back-and-forth nature of the opening stanza with an ensuing 9-2 run. A steal and fast break layup by Danika Dale gave the Lady Flames another double-digit lead, 24-13, with 5:25 showing on the first-half clock.
After Radford's Katherine Brockett beat the shot clock buzzer with a three-pointer from the corner at 4:44, Liberty posted another 9-2 surge. Freshmen Antic and Brown tallied four points apiece to spark the run, and Brown's fast break layup at the 1:45 mark posted the Lady Flames to their largest first-half advantage, 33-18.
The Highlanders trimmed their deficit to a dozen points at the intermission, 33-21, after Kaylyn Crosier's steal and layup in the final seconds closed out the scoring.
Liberty shot the ball well in the first half, connecting on 52.4 percent (11-of-21) of its field goals. The Lady Flames were aided by 18 points in the paint and 15 points off of Radford turnovers. Liberty also got to the free throw line 16 times before the break, making 10 of its charity tosses for 62.5 percent.
Radford hit only 33.3 percent (8-of-24) of its field goal attempts during the opening stanza and was outrebounded by the Lady Flames, 20-11.
Seven different Liberty players found their way into the scoring column in the first half, led by Brown's nine points and Warley's seven tallies. Brown also paced all players with five boards during the period.
Wood's all-around play kept the Highlanders within striking distance before the break. She topped Radford in both scoring (8 points) and rebounding (3 boards), while adding two assists and a steal. Crosier chipped in four points, two assists and a pair of steals.
The two teams traded hoops during the first several minutes of the second half, before Brown took over. She scored 11 straight Liberty points and single-handedly recorded a 9-0 burst which bolstered the Lady Flames' advantage to 50-31 with 12:32 to play.
Brown reached the 500-point career milestone at the 9:31 mark, when she converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 56-35.
Liberty's lead got as large as 24 on two occasions during the final two minutes, before the Lady Flames sealed a 70-52 decision over their Commonwealth rivals.
Liberty ended the game shooting 48 percent (24-of-50) from the field and also scored 20 points from the foul line on 33 attempts (60.6 percent).
The Lady Flames finished with a 39-32 rebounding edge. Liberty also owned sizable advantages in points in the paint (42-20), points off turnovers (25-9) and bench points (25-10).
Brown led all players in both points and rebounds, despite playing only 24 minutes for the Lady Flames. She connected on all seven of her free throws and hit both of Liberty's triples on the night.
Dale joined Brown in double figures, posting 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Warley chipped in nine points, hitting each of her three field goal tries.
Wood finished as Radford's leader in both points (12) and rebounds (6), while Hamilton added 11 markers.
Brown also reached a milestone during the second half, becoming the 51st player in program history to tally 500 career points and joining Elena Kisseleva as the only Lady Flames ever to do so as freshmen.
Liberty's eighth straight victory pushes the Lady Flames' season record to 25-5. The Lady Flames have now recorded seven 25-win campaigns in program history and have reached the semifinal round of the Big South Championship 14 straight times.
Liberty will now face the winner of Friday's final quarterfinal matchup, between No. 3 seed High Point and No. 6 seed Winthrop. The semifinal tilt will tip off Saturday at 3 p.m. and will be televised live by SportSouth and MASN.
Meanwhile, the Highlanders conclude their season at 6-22, after being limited to 36 percent (18-of-50) field goal shooting for the game.
Liberty scored four points before Radford attempted its first shot of the contest, on two Amber Mays free throws and a driving, left-handed layup by backcourt mate Rachel McLeod. The Lady Flames' game-opening surge reached 8-2, when Avery Warley drilled a layup at the 17:29 mark.
Denay Wood hit a pair of free throws at 16:49, bringing the Highlanders within four points, at 8-4. However, Radford did not score again until Victoria Hamilton canned a mid-range jumper 6:21 later.
In the meantime, Liberty took its first double-digit lead after a 7-0 run. Jelena Antic's pair of charity tosses 10:45 before halftime made it 15-4, Lady Flames.
Red-clad Radford answered with a 7-0 surge of its own. Wood's deep triple at 7:55 capped the burst, cutting the Highlanders' deficit to 15-11.
Liberty continued the back-and-forth nature of the opening stanza with an ensuing 9-2 run. A steal and fast break layup by Danika Dale gave the Lady Flames another double-digit lead, 24-13, with 5:25 showing on the first-half clock.
After Radford's Katherine Brockett beat the shot clock buzzer with a three-pointer from the corner at 4:44, Liberty posted another 9-2 surge. Freshmen Antic and Brown tallied four points apiece to spark the run, and Brown's fast break layup at the 1:45 mark posted the Lady Flames to their largest first-half advantage, 33-18.
The Highlanders trimmed their deficit to a dozen points at the intermission, 33-21, after Kaylyn Crosier's steal and layup in the final seconds closed out the scoring.
Liberty shot the ball well in the first half, connecting on 52.4 percent (11-of-21) of its field goals. The Lady Flames were aided by 18 points in the paint and 15 points off of Radford turnovers. Liberty also got to the free throw line 16 times before the break, making 10 of its charity tosses for 62.5 percent.
Radford hit only 33.3 percent (8-of-24) of its field goal attempts during the opening stanza and was outrebounded by the Lady Flames, 20-11.
Seven different Liberty players found their way into the scoring column in the first half, led by Brown's nine points and Warley's seven tallies. Brown also paced all players with five boards during the period.
Wood's all-around play kept the Highlanders within striking distance before the break. She topped Radford in both scoring (8 points) and rebounding (3 boards), while adding two assists and a steal. Crosier chipped in four points, two assists and a pair of steals.
The two teams traded hoops during the first several minutes of the second half, before Brown took over. She scored 11 straight Liberty points and single-handedly recorded a 9-0 burst which bolstered the Lady Flames' advantage to 50-31 with 12:32 to play.
Brown reached the 500-point career milestone at the 9:31 mark, when she converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 56-35.
Liberty's lead got as large as 24 on two occasions during the final two minutes, before the Lady Flames sealed a 70-52 decision over their Commonwealth rivals.
Liberty ended the game shooting 48 percent (24-of-50) from the field and also scored 20 points from the foul line on 33 attempts (60.6 percent).
The Lady Flames finished with a 39-32 rebounding edge. Liberty also owned sizable advantages in points in the paint (42-20), points off turnovers (25-9) and bench points (25-10).
Brown led all players in both points and rebounds, despite playing only 24 minutes for the Lady Flames. She connected on all seven of her free throws and hit both of Liberty's triples on the night.
Dale joined Brown in double figures, posting 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Warley chipped in nine points, hitting each of her three field goal tries.
Wood finished as Radford's leader in both points (12) and rebounds (6), while Hamilton added 11 markers.
Team Stats
RADFORD
LIBERTY
FG%
.360
.480
3FG%
.231
.400
FT%
.619
.606
RB
32
39
TO
16
12
STL
4
6
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
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