Liberty University
1-1
No. 24/23 Michigan
2-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | 11 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 50 |
| #24/23 Michigan | 19 | 27 | 17 | 11 | 74 |
No. 24/23 Michigan Powers Past Liberty, 74-50
11/12/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
No. 24/23 Michigan's All-Big Ten inside/outside combination of Katelynn Flaherty (20 points, 5 assists) and Hallie Thome (16 points, 7-of-8 FG) powered the Wolverines past Liberty, 74-50, in Sunday's Preseason WNIT second-round game at Crisler Center.
Keyen Green paced the Lady Flames (1-1) with 12 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. However, Liberty shot just 33.9 percent (20-of-59) from the field, 20 percent (4-of-20) from beyond the arc and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from the foul line, while committing 21 turnovers.
Michigan (2-0), which won the 2017 Postseason WNIT title, advances to the Preseason WNIT semifinals to face the winner of Tuesday's No. 9/10 Louisville-Toledo clash. The Wolverines shot 80.8 percent (21-of-26) from the foul line, including 14-of-19 during the decisive second quarter which saw Michigan outscore Liberty, 27-15.
Kierra Johnson-Graham gave the Lady Flames a short-lived 3-2 lead with a triple on Liberty's opening possession. However, Flaherty scored the game's next five points and Michigan led for the remainder of the afternoon.
The Wolverines owned a 19-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter after holding Liberty to 25 percent (4-of-16) field goal shooting and 20 percent (2-of-10) from three-point range during the quarter. Flaherty tallied seven first-quarter points to pace all scorers.
Sophomores Lela Sellers and Iva Ilic each knocked down three-pointers within the first 1:33 of the second quarter. However, the Michigan duo of Flaherty and Thome kept the Lady Flames at arm's length, tallying eight points apiece during the stanza.
A Green three-point play and the first two points of Melis Ucar's Liberty career had the Lady Flames within a dozen (38-26), 2:21 before halftime. Michigan answered with eight straight points, taking a 20-point (46-26) advantage into the intermission.
The Wolverines' biggest first-half advantage came at the foul line, where the home team went 19-of-24, while Liberty was just 2-of-5. Flaherty made all 10 of her free throws during a 15-point first half.
Green and Sellers scored six points apiece for the Lady Flames before halftime, but Liberty shot at a 29.4 percent (10-of-34) clip from the field.
KK Barbour opened the second-half scoring with a layup, but 18 points was as close as the Lady Flames got during the period, despite Green's four-point, three-rebound stanza. A putback by Kayla Robbins punctuated Michigan's 6-0 surge to close the quarter, sending the maize-clad Wolverines to the final 10 minutes with a 63-36 cushion.
Liberty outscored Michigan, 14-11, in the fourth quarter, sparked by freshman Ashtyn Baker's four points and a steal. That trimmed the Wolverines' final margin of victory to 24 points (74-50) in the first hardwood meeting between the two teams.
Sellers finished with eight points for the Lady Flames, including two of her team's four made triples. Her efforts helped Liberty's bench outscore Michigan's reserves by a 23-13 count.
The Lady Flames corralled 16 offensive rebounds, including five by Green, but Michigan came away with a 34-33 overall edge on the glass.
Despite Liberty's free throw shooting woes, Ola Makurat hit both of her attempts. The sophomore has now connected on 18 straight foul shots, dating back to last season.
Nicole Munger (13 points) and Hailey Brown (10 points, 6 rebounds) joined Flaherty and Thome in double figures for Michigan, which made 49 percent (24-of-49) of their field goals and doubled up the Lady Flames in the paint, 32-16.
Liberty has now lost 26 straight meetings with Top 25 opponents since its 88-79 victory over No. 16/16 DePaul in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament (March 22, 2005).
Up Next
Liberty will play a consolation game to wrap up its stay in the 2017 Preseason WNIT, facing the losing team from one of the other three second-round games (Louisville vs. Toledo, Texas A&M vs. Louisiana or Oregon vs. Drake).
The consolation round matchup details will be finalized late Tuesday night.
