Liberty University
8-8, 5-2BSC
Winthrop
2-14, 1-6BSC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winthrop | 12 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 61 |
| Liberty | 26 | 16 | 21 | 14 | 77 |
Hot-Shooting Liberty Tops Winthrop, 77-61
1/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Liberty hit 50 percent of its three-point attempts during Saturday's matchup with Winthrop at the Vines Center, finishing with a season-high 11 made triples. The hot outside shooting propelled the Lady Flames past the Eagles, 77-61.
Liberty, which equaled the most three-pointers it has ever made at the Vines Center and posted a season-high for points, improves to 8-8 overall and 5-2 in Big South play. The Lady Flames, who have now won 17 straight home games against Big South opponents and 24 consecutive home meetings with Winthrop, move to within one-half game of conference-leading UNC Asheville (6-2 Big South).
Mickayla Sanders, who nailed three triples, paced the Lady Flames' balanced scoring attack with 14 points. Catherine Kearney chipped in 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while all of Sadalia Ellis' 12 points came on four triples, tying her career high for three-pointers in a game.
Short-handed Winthrop, which dressed only eight players, falls to 2-14 overall and 1-6 in Big South games. The Eagles lost their eighth game in a row despite 22 points from Erica Williams and 18 points, six assists and six steals by Aliyah Kilpatrick.
The Lady Flames hit four three-pointers within the first 4:07 of Saturday's matinee, including one by Sanders which gave Liberty an early 12-2 advantage it would never relinquish. The Lady Flames built their lead to 26-12 by the end of the first quarter, aided by seven Kearney points.
Katelyn Adams' layup off of a nice find from Brooke Alexander bolstered the Liberty advantage to 34-16 at 4:48 of the second quarter. Shortly thereafter, Winthrop fashioned a 10-0 run, closed out by three straight Williams hoops. Her baseline jumper with 1:26 left in the half cut the visitors' deficit to 36-28.
Liberty then scored six of the half's final seven points, highlighted by a Jaymee Fisher-Davis three-pointer and Stephanie Patton's buzzer-beating jumper. The Lady Flames took a 42-29 halftime lead after their second highest-scoring half of the season.
The Lady Flames made half of their first-half three-point attempts (6-of-12) and doubled up the Eagles in rebounds, 26-13. Winthrop's Williams paced all players with 10 points before the intermission.
Liberty continued its hot outside shooting during the third quarter, as back-to-back triples by Sanders gave the Lady Flames a 55-35 cushion with 5:37 to play. Liberty's lead eventually reached 24 (63-39) when Candice Leatherwood made a pair of free throws at 2:19. The Lady Flames took a 63-45 lead into the final quarter.
Williams scored 10 points for Winthrop during the fourth quarter, but Liberty held the Eagles at bay by making half (6-of-12) of its fourth-quarter field goal attempts.
After being held to 42 points during last Saturday's loss at Presbyterian, Liberty played an efficient game at the offensive end, shooting 45.8 percent (27-of-59) overall, 50 percent (11-of-22) from three-point range and 80 percent (12-of-15) at the free throw line.
Winthrop shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field and owned a slight 30-28 advantage inside the paint. However, the Eagles nailed only three triples on the afternoon and connected at just a 53.3 percent (8-of-15) clip from the foul line.
The Lady Flames won the rebounding battle for the fifth time in six games, 43-28, aided by 16 offensive boards.
Sanders moved into 50th place on Liberty's all-time scoring list on Saturday, finishing the contest with 554 career points.
Adams' six rebounds made her the ninth Lady Flame ever to collect 700 career boards. She ended the day with 703 career rebounds.
Alexander started for the first time in her young career and tied her career high of six assists to pace the Lady Flames. The freshman has totaled 17 assists and only three turnovers during the last four contests.
Liberty enjoyed a 28-5 advantage in bench points, led by nine tallies from Fisher-Davis. The senior went 3-of-4 from three-point range, improving to 10-of-16 during the last three games. She also climbed into seventh place in program history with 107 career triples.
Freshman KK Barbour celebrated her 19th birthday in style, returning from a knee injury which had sidelined her for eight games to score four points.
Liberty will play a pair of road games next week, beginning Tuesday at Coastal Carolina. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. as the Lady Flames seek their 45th consecutive win over the Chanticleers (7-9, 2-5 Big South) and aim to improve to 11-1 all-time at The HTC Center.
