WBB Game Day Central: Gardner-Webb
2/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Day Central Page
Liberty's Women's Basketball Game Notes
Game Time:
11 a.m.
Radio Coverage:
Liberty Flames Sports Network – Radio
WWMC 90.9 FM The Light
Play-By-Play Broadcaster: Jamie Hall
Today's Game
Big South-leading Liberty (16-6, 12-1 Big South) will continue its busy stretch of four games in eight days with a Thursday matinee at Gardner-Webb (9-13, 5-8 Big South). Tipoff is slated at 11 a.m. at Paul Porter Arena.
The "Starting Five" - Liberty's Top Storylines
1) Liberty will look to continue its recent stretch of impressive play. During their current four-game winning streak, the Lady Flames have defeated the Big South's second (High Point), third (Radford) and fourth-place (Campbell) teams by an average of 25.7 ppg.
2) The Lady Flames have a chance to clinch a top-five seed and first-round bye for the Big South Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday. To do so, Liberty needs to win at Gardner-Webb and High Point needs to win at Presbyterian.
3) Liberty has played stifling defense in Big South games this season, holding eight of 13 opponents below the 50-point mark. No conference team has scored more than 63 points against the Lady Flames in 2014-15.
4) Gardner-Webb has been tough to beat at Paul Porter Arena during the last two seasons, going 19-5 at home since the start of the 2013-14 campaign. Meanwhile, Liberty is 5-1 in Big South road games this year and 5-1 all-time in Boiling Springs.
5) Liberty starting point guard Sadalia Ellis has been exceptional during the last three games, averaging 13.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.3 bpg and 4.0 spg while shooting 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from the field. She has also played a key role in helping the Lady Flames hold Asheville's Shonese Jones, High Point's Kaylah Keys and Radford's Ayana Avery to a total of 10 points.
Liberty vs. Gardner-Webb At a Glance
Series History
Series Record: Liberty leads, 13-3.
Current Streak: Liberty won seven consecutive meetings.
Series Record at Gardner-Webb: Liberty leads, 5-1.
Current Streak at Gardner-Webb: Liberty has won four consecutive meetings.
Last Meeting Overall: Liberty 56, Gardner-Webb 47 (Dec. 13, 2014 at Liberty)
Last Meeting at Gardner-Webb: Liberty 72, Gardner-Webb 62 (Feb. 15, 2014)
Gardner-Webb's Last Series Victory: GWU 67, Liberty 66 (March 13, 2011 at HPU)
Gardner-Webb's Last Series Victory at Home: GWU 70, Liberty 65 (Jan. 2, 2010)
Coaching Matchup
Liberty Head Coach: Carey Green
Overall Record (Seasons): 373-127 (16th Season)
Record at Liberty (Seasons): Same
Record vs. Gardner-Webb: 13-3
Gardner-Webb Head Coach: Rick Reeves
Overall Record (Seasons): 427-408 (29th Season)
Record at Gardner-Webb (Seasons): 160-170 (11th Season)
Record vs. Liberty: 3-13
Notes and Anecdotes
• Liberty posted a 56-47 home victory over Gardner-Webb on Dec. 13 despite being limited to one made field goal over the final 13:13. The Lady Flames were led by Simone Brown's 15 points, while Jessica Heilig scored 14 for Gardner-Webb.
• Heilig enters Thursday's game with 978 career points, leaving her 22 shy of becoming the 19th 1,000-point scorer in Gardner-Webb women's basketball history.
• Nine of the 16 all-time meetings between Liberty and Gardner-Webb have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including each of the last two matchups.
• Thirteen of Gardner-Webb's 22 games in 2014-15 have been decided by 10 points or fewer. However, the Runnin' Bulldogs are only 4-9 in those tight contests.
• Gardner-Webb has been tough to beat at home during the last two seasons, going 19-5 at Paul Porter Arena since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
• Liberty's Jaymee Fisher-Davis and Gardner-Webb's Mayhana Dunovant were teammates at Butler High School in 2010-11, helping their team go 30-1.
• Gardner-Webb head coach Rick Reeves previously served as Liberty's head coach for nine seasons (1990-91 through 1998-99), leading the Lady Flames to their first three Big South Conference titles (1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons).
Darlings of Defense
Liberty has played stingy defense during Big South contests this season, ranking first in the conference for points allowed (49.3 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (30.3).
• The Lady Flames have held eight of their 13 conference foes below the 50-point mark.
• Liberty has limited three of its last four opponents (Campbell, High Point and Radford) to season-low point totals. The 39 points Radford scored against the Lady Flames on Monday were the fewest Liberty has allowed in a game since Feb. 28, 2013.
Taking Care of the Ball
The Lady Flames committed a season-low seven turnovers during Monday's victory over Radford. It marked Liberty's fewest miscues in a game since Jan. 15, 2003, when the Lady Flames finished with six turnovers during an 80-45 win at UNC Asheville.
• Liberty will now seek its first back-to-back games with 10 or fewer turnovers since Jan. 15 & 18, 2003 (vs. UNC Asheville and Birmingham-Southern).
• For the season, the Lady Flames are averaging 17.9 turnovers per contest, their lowest figure since the 2007-08 team tallied 17.3 turnovers per game.
1,000 in Sight
Ashley Rininger enters Thursday's game 51 points away from 1,000 for her career. She is aiming to become the 15th Lady Flame ever to reach the 1,000-point mark and the fourth Ohioan to do so (also Megan Frazee, Moriah Frazee and Kristal Tharp).
• At her current scoring average of 11.8 ppg, Rininger is on pace to reach 1,000 during a Feb. 21 home game against Charleston Southern.
A Look Back at Liberty's 75-39 Win over Radford
• Liberty raced out to a 30-5 lead and never looked back, recording an impressive 75-39 victory over Radford, Monday evening at the Vines Center.
• Radford entered the game having won eight of its last nine outings, but shot just 26.5 percent (13-of-49) from the field and 8.3 percent (1-of-12) from three-point range. Leading scorer Ayana Avery was limited to a season-low two points, and the 39 total points were a season low for the Highlanders.
• Liberty gave head coach Carey Green a lot to celebrate during his 500th game with the Lady Flames, including their ninth straight home win, their ninth consecutive victory over the Highlanders and their ninth straight win against an in-state opponent. Green improved to 373-127 in his 16 seasons at Liberty with the triumph.
• The Lady Flames' final 36-point cushion marked their largest margin of victory this season, and the Highlanders' 39 points were the fewest Liberty has allowed since Feb. 28, 2013. The Lady Flames have now held eight of 13 conference foes below the 50-point mark this season.
• At the offensive end, the Lady Flames shot 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from the field and committed a season-low seven turnovers. It marked Liberty's fewest turnovers since a six-turnover outing at UNC Asheville on Jan. 15, 2003.
• Liberty, which was outrebounded by 18 in its first meeting with Radford this season, finished with a 41-33 edge on the glass on Monday while more than doubling up the Highlanders in points in the paint (46-22).
• Sadalia Ellis scored in double figures (14 points) for the third straight outing, equaling the longest streak of her career. She also recorded a career-high six steals, the most thefts by a Liberty player since Devon Brown's six steals against Gardner-Webb on March 8, 2013.
Balanced Attack
Sadalia Ellis led the Lady Flames with 17 points during a Jan. 27 win over UNC Asheville, becoming the sixth different player to top Liberty's scoring chart in the last nine games.
• Simone Brown, Karly Buer, Jaymee Fisher-Davis, Ashley Rininger and Mickayla Sanders have all taken turns as the Lady Flames' scoring leader during the last nine contests, spanning Jan. 5-Feb. 2.
• Ten different Lady Flames have scored 10 or more points in a game this season, including the six players mentioned above, Katelyn Adams, Emily Frazier, Jasmine Gardner and Catherine Kearney.
Controlling the Paint
Liberty is 10-1 in its last 11 games, thanks in large part to its success around the basket.
• The Lady Flames have outrebounded each of their last 11 opponents, by an average of 13.7 boards per game.
• Liberty has also outscored all 11 foes inside the paint, by an average of 14.5 ppg.
A Tradition to Uphold
• The 2014-15 Lady Flames have clinched their 19th straight winning season. The streak started in 1996-97, the first year the Lady Flames won the Big South Championship title.
• Liberty has posted seven straight 20-win seasons and 16 20-win campaigns in the last 18 years.
• Liberty has notched 16 consecutive seasons with 10+ Big South wins, including 2014-15.
• Liberty has claimed 15 Big South Championship crowns in 18 years and earned 14 Big South regular-season titles in 17 years.
