Liberty University
9-8, 4-1BSC
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UNC Asheville
7-9, 4-1BSC
Webb Helps UNC Asheville Grind Out 48-41 Win Over Liberty
1/16/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
On a Tuesday night when snow was falling outside Kimmel Arena but very few shots were falling inside the facility, UNC Asheville's Khaila Webb poured in a career-high 23 points and came up with a career-best five steals. Her effort helped the Bulldogs hold off Liberty, 48-41, in a defensive struggle.
The Lady Flames pulled within two points five separate times during the fourth quarter, but Webb tallied eight points in the period to keep her team in front.
Liberty falls to 9-8 overall and 4-1 in the Big South after seeing its four-game winning streak halted. The Lady Flames' 41 points were a season low, as the visitors shot 32.7 percent (16-of-49) from the floor and committed 21 turnovers. Ashtyn Baker (10 points) was Liberty's lone player in double digits.
Asheville, now 7-9 overall and 4-1 in Big South play, moves into a second-place tie with the Lady Flames in the conference standings. The Bulldogs have now won three straight games overall, four consecutive home contests against the Lady Flames and five straight meetings in the head-to-head series with Liberty.
Asheville hit only 32.6 percent (15-of-46) of its field goals but went 85 percent (17-of-20) from the free throw line and scored 18 points off of Liberty's turnovers.
After jumping out to a 6-2 advantage, Liberty went scoreless for nearly five minutes as UNC Asheville went on a 9-0 run. Webb scored five of those points, including a steal and layup at the 1:51 mark which gave her team an 11-6 lead.
Liberty was able to close the gap to one point (11-10) by the end of the quarter despite shooting only 31.3 percent (5-of-16) during the first 10 minutes. Asheville made only 27.3 percent (3-of-11) of its first-half field goals itself.
Points continued to be hard to come by in the second quarter. Webb tallied five more points to keep her team in front, while Liberty committed eight turnovers during the period. However, the Lady Flames trailed by only two (22-20) at halftime after Ola Makurat beat the buzzer with a perimeter jumper.
Three days after fashioning their highest-scoring first half of the season (51 points) at Gardner-Webb, Liberty was held to its lowest-scoring half of 2017-18 (20 points).
Liberty limited the home team to 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from the field prior to the intermission, but the Bulldogs hit 11-of-12 free throws. Liberty got to the foul line only twice in the first half, sinking both attempts.
Asheville scored eight points off of Liberty's six turnovers in the third quarter, taking three separate seven-point leads, including a 34-27 edge at the conclusion of the period.
The Lady Flames scored the fourth quarter's first five points, cutting their deficit to 34-32 on Makurat's long three-pointer with 8:45 to play.
Liberty's last two-point deficit (43-41) came after Baker's nifty layup at the 1:55 mark. But those proved to be the Lady Flames' final points of the night and Webb's perimeter hoop on Asheville's ensuing possession doubled her team's lead.
Liberty misfired on its final five field goal attempts over the last 26 seconds, dropping to 3-5 all-time against the Bulldogs at Kimmel Arena. Meanwhile, two-time defending Big South champion Asheville improved to 6-2 in its last eight games following a 1-7 start to the season.
The Lady Flames controlled the paint, as evidenced by their advantages in rebounds (37-29), points in the paint (24-18) and second-chance points (11-12), along with their season-high eight blocked shots.
Post players Keyen Green (9 points, game-high 7 rebounds) and Makurat (9 points, 6 rebounds) played effectively for the Lady Flames. Green now ranks 50th in program history with 328 career boards, halfway through her sophomore season.
Lela Sellers blocked a season-high three shots and has now recorded seven rejections in two career visits to Kimmel Arena.
Up Next
Liberty will return home for a Saturday evening matchup with Campbell (9-7, 2-3 Big South). Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. at the Vines Center as the Lady Flames attempt to improve upon their 5-0 home record this season. Liberty has won six straight home meetings with the Camels and seven consecutive games in the head-to-head series overall.
