Liberty University
6-13, 5-3BSC
Winthrop
2-18, 1-7BSC
3rd-Quarter Surge Propels Liberty Past Winthrop
1/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Ola Makurat scored eight of her team-high and career-high 15 points during Liberty's 24-3 run to start the second half, propelling the Lady Flames to an 80-51 victory over Winthrop, Saturday afternoon at the Vines Center.
The Lady Flames led by only eight points (37-29) at halftime before outscoring the Eagles, 24-3, over the first 8:43 of the second half. Liberty kept its lead above 24 points the rest of the way, posting its fifth straight home win overall and its 25th consecutive home victory over Winthrop.
Liberty improves to 6-13 overall and 5-3 in Big South play after halting a two-game losing skid. It was a true team victory, as 12 different Lady Flames scored points and a dozen Lady Flames grabbed rebounds on the day.
Winthrop drops to 2-18 overall and 1-7 in the Big South despite an impressive effort by senior Erica Williams (22 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists). The Eagles shot just 31.1 percent (19-of-61) from the field and committed 26 turnovers, leading to 25 Liberty points. Winthrop has now lost 30 straight games played away from the Winthrop Coliseum.
After Amari Grevious hit a layup on Winthrop's first possession of the game for the Eagles' lone lead, Liberty scored 11 unanswered points. Iva Ilic's triple at the 6:02 mark gave the Lady Flames an 11-2 lead at the end of the surge.
The two teams traded matching 6-0 runs over the next 3:19, and Liberty stayed in front for the remainder of the opening period. The Lady Flames led by a 21-14 count after 10 minutes, thanks to 4-of-8 three-point shooting and four blocked shots.
Liberty kept Winthrop at arm's length throughout the second quarter, aided by Nene Johnson's six points during the stanza. Williams scored seven second-quarter points of her own for the visitors, but the Lady Flames took a 37-29 lead into the intermission.
Liberty scored 14 points off of Winthrop's 12 first-half turnovers, while the Eagles owned a 28-23 rebounding advantage prior to halftime.
The Lady Flames raced out of the locker room with an 11-0 run to start the third quarter, sparked by six Makurat points. The freshman's jumper extended Liberty's lead to 48-29 with 6:41 to play in the stanza.
Following a Noell Kellers three-pointer, the Lady Flames ran off 13 more unanswered points in succession, closing out a 24-3 overall surge. KK Barbour split a pair of free throws at the 1:17 mark, making the score 61-32, Liberty. The Lady Flames then took a 63-37 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
Williams tossed in 10 fourth-quarter points for the Eagles, but Liberty was actually able to add to its advantage by scoring 17 points in the period. The Lady Flames ended up reaching the 80-point mark for the fifth time in their first eight conference games.
Liberty shot 44.3 percent (31-of-70) from the field, helped by 40 points in the paint. That overcame a shaky night shooting from three-point range (25.9 percent, 7-of-27) and from the foul line (55 percent, 11-of-20).
The Lady Flames outrebounded their ninth straight opponent, 46-44, with their 18 offensive boards leading to 16 second-chance points.
Makurat became the seventh different Lady Flame in the first eight Big South games to lead the team in scoring. She also tied for the team rebounding lead (seven boards) with Keyen Green, who added 11 points of her own.
Green accounted for three of Liberty's seven blocked shots, giving the Lady Flames 25 rejections in the last three outings.
Coming off the bench, Barbour tallied four of the Lady Flames' 13 steals, and her seven markers contributed to Liberty's 34-13 advantage in bench points.
Grevious complemented Williams' production for Winthrop, recording career-high totals for points (10) and rebounds (9).
Williams' fourth career 20-point outing against Liberty put her into a tie for fifth place on Winthrop's all-time scoring list with 1,550 points.
Up Next
Liberty will take to the road on Tuesday for a contest at Campbell (15-4, 7-1 Big South), wrapping up the first half of the Lady Flames' 18-game Big South schedule. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Gore Arena for Liberty's matchup with the Big South co-leading Camels.
