Liberty University
8-7, 3-0BSC
Winthrop
1-13, 0-3BSC
Fast Start Propels Liberty Past Winthrop, 63-37
1/9/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Liberty opened Tuesday night's matchup with Winthrop with a 14-0 run and never looked back. The Lady Flames led from wire-to-wire, cruising to a 63-37 victory over the Eagles at the Vines Center.
Liberty has now won a season-high three games in a row, improving to 8-7 overall and remaining tied with High Point atop the Big South standings at 3-0. Keyen Green matched her season high of 18 points in just 18 minutes, helping the Lady Flames improve to 5-0 at home and record their 26th consecutive victory over the Eagles inside the Vines Center.
Winthrop falls to 1-13 overall and 0-3 in Big South play with its 11th straight loss. The Eagles were limited to 26.5 percent (13-of-49) shooting and committed 25 turnovers.
Liberty kept the Eagles off the scoreboard for 6:48 to start the game, building an early 14-0 lead. The Lady Flames' advantage reached 18 points (19-1), before Winthrop's Kayla Atkins hit her team's first layup at the 1:40 mark.
Atkins' hoop started a 7-0 burst by the visiting Eagles to close out the opening quarter. However, Liberty still led 19-8 after 10 minutes of play, led by Green's five points and KK Barbour's five rebounds.
Winthrop also scored the second quarter's first two points, trimming its deficit to 19-10 before Liberty countered with a 10-0 run. The Lady Flames' spurt featured four points apiece by Green and Lela Sellers, with the latter's perimeter jumper extending the hosts' advantage to 29-10, 6:36 before halftime.
Liberty went on to take three separate 20-point leads, including its halftime cushion of 36-16.
The Lady Flames held Winthrop to 25.9 percent (7-of-27) shooting in the first half, including 8.3 percent (1-of-12) from beyond the arc. Liberty also came up with eight steals prior to the intermission.
Seven different Lady Flames scored points in the opening half, led by Green with nine tallies. Courtney Hagaman paced Winthrop with five points and five rebounds during the first 20 minutes.
Green notched seven points during a 9-0 Liberty run early in the third quarter, punctuated by a three-point play at 5:57 which made the Lady Flames' lead 45-20. However, Liberty made only one more field goal during the remainder of the stanza, enabling the Eagles to pull within 48-31 heading to the fourth quarter.
Liberty removed any doubt with a 12-2 surge to begin the fourth quarter. Ola Makurat scored six straight points to finish off the run, building the Lady Flames' largest lead of the night (60-33) with 4:06 remaining.
Liberty went on to close out a 26-point victory, improving to 31-1 all-time in home matchups with Winthrop.
The Lady Flames shot just 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from three-point range, but finished a solid 42.6 percent (26-of-61) from the floor. That number was helped by a 40-16 advantage in points in the paint.
Liberty also outrebounded the Eagles, 42-38, with Barbour grabbing a game-high 10 boards.
The Lady Flames came up with 14 steals and scored 23 points off of Winthrop's 25 turnovers.
Ashtyn Baker led all players with four steals and also tied her career high with six of Liberty's 20 assists on 26 made field goals.
Makurat's 10 points contributed to Liberty's 24-8 edge in bench points, while Sellers and Molly Reagan chipped in nine points apiece for the victors.
Hagaman, who entered the game averaging 20.0 ppg in Big South play, paced the Eagles with 14 points.
Up Next
Liberty will take to the road for back-to-back games in North Carolina, beginning Saturday afternoon at Gardner-Webb (12-3, 2-1 Big South). Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Paul Porter Arena, as the Lady Flames look to halt the Runnin' Bulldogs seven-game home winning streak.
