Liberty University
5-12, 4-2BSC
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UNC Asheville
9-8, 3-3BSC
Fast Start Sparks Asheville Past Liberty, 64-54
1/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
UNC Asheville raced out to an 18-4 lead within the first 7:44 of Saturday's matinee against Liberty at Kimmel Arena, setting the tone for the Bulldogs' 64-54 victory in a rematch of the 2016 Big South Women's Basketball Championship title game.
Chatori Major scored 10 of her game-high 19 points during Asheville's game-opening salvo, and the defending Big South champion Bulldogs' defense did the rest. Liberty entered the game averaging 80.8 ppg in conference play, but was held to 34.8 percent (23-of-66) from the field and 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from three-point range. Asheville also forced three turnovers in the game's final minute, foiling Liberty's comeback attempt.
Liberty drops to 5-12 overall and 4-2 in Big South play after losing its third straight meeting with the Bulldogs at Kimmel Arena in the last 12 months. Iva Ilic's 16 points paced the Lady Flames, who fall to 1-9 away from home this season.
Short-handed Asheville, which dressed only nine players, improves to 9-8 overall and 3-3 in the Big South with its first conference home win of the season. Sonora Dengokl (14 points) and Jessica Wall (11 points) joined Major in double figures, and the Bulldogs scored 24 points off of Liberty's 18 turnovers.
Asheville scored the game's first 12 points, including 10 by Big South Preseason Player of the Year Major. Her second triple of the early-going swished through the net at 6:49 of the first quarter, giving the Bulldogs a 12-0 advantage at the outset.
Asheville's lead got as large as 14 (18-4) before Liberty scored the quarter's final four points, cutting its deficit to 18-8 through 10 minutes of play. The Lady Flames shot just 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from the field and committed six turnovers during the first quarter.
After the Bulldogs' fast start, Liberty kept the home team off the scoreboard for 9:28, spanning the first and second quarters. The Lady Flames fashioned a 15-0 run during that time, closed out by seven consecutive Ilic points. The freshman's three-pointer at 4:09 gave Liberty its first lead of the game at 19-18.
The two teams were deadlocked 21-21 at halftime after Liberty limited Asheville to three second-quarter points on 1-of-11 shooting. Ilic paced all players with 11 points in the first half, while Liberty outscored the home team inside the paint, 18-10, and blocked six shots prior to the intermission.
Wall went on an 8-0 run by herself in the third quarter, helping the Bulldogs take a 31-23 lead with 6:29 to play in the stanza, an advantage they never relinquished. Liberty battled back for the remainder of the afternoon, trimming their deficit to 40-35 on Lela Sellers' long triple at the third-quarter buzzer.
Liberty got as close as four (46-42) when Sellers hit a layup at the 6:48 mark of the fourth quarter and was still within five (52-47) with 1:49 to play. However, KJ Weaver's layup and Dengokl's two free throws on Asheville's next two possessions essentially put the game out of reach.
The Lady Flames got no closer than six points down the rest of the way, as Asheville hit more free throws (8) during the final minute than Liberty did for the entire game (3) and caused the aforementioned three turnovers.
Asheville finished the game at 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the floor and 50 percent (6-of-12) from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs also hit 16-of-23 free throws for 69.6 percent, while Liberty was 3-of-3 from the line.
Liberty's size advantage resulted in a 43-40 rebounding edge, a 36-28 cushion in points in the paint and a season-high 10 blocked shots.
Sellers, who rejected a career-high four shots, scored eight of her 10 points in the second half. Audrey Rettstatt added three blocks and a team-high four assists for the Lady Flames.
Kierra Johnson-Graham and Molly Reagan had six rebounds apiece to lead the Lady Flames' work on the boards.
Three-time reigning Big South Freshman of the Week Keyen Green was limited to nine points and five rebounds, halting a streak of eight straight games scoring in double figures.
Up Next
Liberty will now travel to Radford (13-4, 5-1 Big South) for a Tuesday evening matchup with the Highlanders, who are tied with Campbell for the conference lead. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center.
