Liberty University
7-7, 2-0BSC
Charleston Southern
6-7, 1-1BSC
Barbour, Green Star as Liberty Tops CSU, 63-53
1/6/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Liberty's starting post duo of KK Barbour (18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) and Keyen Green (17 points, 6 rebounds) powered the Lady Flames past Charleston Southern, 63-53, in Saturday's Big South home opener at the Vines Center.
Green stepped up down the stretch, scoring nine of her points in the fourth quarter. Her layup with 2:27 remaining punctuated a decisive 9-2 surge which extended the Lady Flames' lead from one (50-49) to eight (59-51). That hoop also gave Green exactly 500 career points in her first 42 games as a Lady Flame.
Liberty improves to 7-7 overall, 2-0 in Big South play and 4-0 at home this season. Lela Sellers added 11 points and three triples, to go along with Barbour's career-high four trifectas. The Lady Flames' pressure defense forced 19 turnovers, which led to 25 points.
Charleston Southern (6-7, 1-1 Big South) was able to tie the score at 40-40 at the end of the third quarter erasing a 12-point halftime deficit. But CSU shot only 1-of-11 from the field in the fourth period as it fell to 1-5 away from Charleston this season.
The Buccaneers' Weknyne Dumorne posted her first double-double of the season (15 points, 13 rebounds), but leading scorer Njeri Nelms was held to eight points on 2-of-9 shooting and committed six turnovers.
Liberty came up with three steals in the first 1:18, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead. However, the Lady Flames missed their next eight shot attempts. Charleston Southern scored 10 straight points over the span. Dumorne tallied eight of those points, including a layup at 2:06 which put the Buccaneers on top, 10-4.
Liberty closed the opening quarter with a 5-0 burst, including Sellers' sixth straight made three-pointer dating back to Tuesday's game at Presbyterian. CSU owned a slim 10-9 edge after 10 minutes of play.
Green scored five straight points for the Lady Flames during the second quarter, including a three-point play at the 5:15 mark, lifting Liberty's lead to 21-16. Shortly thereafter, CSU came back to within 21-20 on Lexii Cassell's layup with 4:18 remaining.
Liberty then finished off the first half with a 13-2 run, sparked by three Barbour three-pointers. As a result, the Lady Flames took a 34-22 halftime lead after a 25-point second quarter.
Liberty shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27) during the first half, including 50 percent (5-of-10) from beyond the arc. Charleston Southern hit just 33.3 percent (10-of-30) of its shots, misfiring on all five of its three-point tries.
The Lady Flames came up with nine steals in the opening half and scored 17 points off CSU turnovers.
Barbour led all players with 13 first-half points, while Dumorne scored 10 for the Buccaneers.
Charleston Southern fashioned an 8-0 run to start the second half, pulling to within 34-30 on Cassell's up-and-under layup with 6:27 on the third quarter clock.
Liberty rebuilt its lead to eight (39-31) when Barbour hit her fourth triple of the day at 5:29. That was the Lady Flames' final made field goal of the quarter, as CSU outscored Liberty, 9-1, the rest of the way.
Ke'Asia Jackson beat the third-quarter buzzer with a perimeter jumper, evening the score at 40-40. The Buccaneers outrebounded the Lady Flames, 14-2, during the quarter, leading to an 18-6 advantage on the scoreboard for the third 10 minutes.
Green set the tone for her productive fourth quarter by scoring the stanza's first two points on a driving layup 45 seconds in. Charleston Southern was never able to go on top during the period despite some shaky (6-of-12) free throw shooting by the Lady Flames.
While CSU struggled to find its shooting touch down the stretch, Liberty made 53.3 percent (8-of-15) of its fourth-quarter field goal attempts, including a big three-pointer by Lela Sellers with 3:34 to play that made it 56-49, Liberty.
In the end, the Lady Flames were able to gain a measure of revenge for their 52-50 setback to the Buccaneers in the 2017 Big South Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinals at the Vines Center.
Liberty finished the contest at 46 percent (23-of-50) from the field, including 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from three-point range. The Lady Flames hit just 52.6 percent (10-of-19) of their foul shots.
Charleston Southern struggled to 32.1 percent (18-of-56) field goal shooting for the day, making just 16.7 percent (2-of-12) of its three-pointers. CSU was 62.5 percent (15-of-24) at the charity stripe, including 11-of-17 in the fourth quarter.
The Buccaneers outrebounded the Lady Flames, 42-36, with Charleston Southern's 16 offensive rebounds leading to 17 second chance points.
Liberty, which leads the conference in steals, added 13 more on Saturday. All five starters tallied two or more thefts, topped by Kierra Johnson-Graham's second straight three-steal outing.
Barbour's double-double was her second of the season and the fourth of her career. The junior also tied a career high with four assists,
Sellers finished 3-of-4 from behind the arc, one day after her 20th birthday, completing a successful week. The sophomore averaged 14.5 ppg and shot 8-of-9 from three-point range during wins over Presbyterian and CSU.
Jackson made it two Buccaneers in double figures, ending up with all 10 of her points after halftime.
Up Next
Liberty will wrap up its quick two-game homestand Tuesday at 7 p.m., welcoming Winthrop (1-12, 0-2 Big South) to the Vines Center. The Lady Flames are 30-1 all-time against the Eagles at home, including 25 straight victories at the Vines Center.
