Liberty University
19-7,12-4ASUN
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North Florida
14-11,11-5ASUN
Lytle Leads Liberty Past North Florida in ASUN Semifinals
3/12/2021 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The third time was the charm for No. 2 seed Liberty in Friday's ASUN Women's Basketball Championship semifinal meeting with No. 3 seed North Florida at the KSU Convocation Center. The Ospreys topped Liberty twice during the regular season, but Emily Lytle's 24 points led the Lady Flames to a 65-52 victory on Friday, punching their ticket to a third consecutive ASUN title game appearance.
Liberty (19-7) will square off with No. 1 seed FGCU (25-2) in the championship game, Sunday at 2 p.m. at the KSU Convocation Center. The Eagles topped No. 4 seed Lipscomb 59-44 in Friday's first semifinal.
FGCU defeated Liberty in the 2019 title game, and the two teams were slated to meet once again in the 2020 championship game before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sunday will mark the Lady Flames' 22nd conference tournament championship game appearance in the last 25 seasons, including their fourth in a row (also the 2018 Big South final).
North Florida's season ends at 14-11 as the Ospreys fell in the ASUN semifinal round for the fourth consecutive year, including the second at the hands of Liberty (also 2019). The Ospreys hit 11 triples on the evening but were undone by 13 second-half turnovers. North Florida was playing without ASUN Defensive Player of the Year Jazz Bond, who missed both of the Ospreys' ASUN tournament games due to an upper body injury.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Lytle – 24 points, 5-8 3FG, 6 rebounds; Bridgette Rettstatt – 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals; Dee Brown – 9 points; Mya Berkman – 8 points; Kennedi Williams – 8 assists.
North Florida Individuals: Rhetta Moore – 16 points, 4-11 3FG, 6 rebounds; Marissa Mackins – 12 points, 6 assists; Erin Jones – 11 points, 6 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the field to UNF's 35.2 percent (19-of-54). The Lady Flames outrebounded the Ospreys 38-32, turning 11 offensive boards into 19 second-chance points. Liberty finished with significant advantages in points in the paint (28-12) and bench points (27-7). The Lady Flames came up with a season-high 13 steals.
Turning Point
North Florida held Liberty to two points over the first 8:05 of the second half. The Ospreys took advantage of the Lady Flames' drought to briefly take the lead (39-38) on Erin Jones' three-pointer with 2:22 left in the third quarter.
Liberty responded by scoring the game's next 13 points, six of which came from Brown. Lytle's three-point play with 7:15 showing on the fourth-quarter clock put an exclamation mark on the run and gave the Lady Flames a 51-39 advantage. Liberty's lead remained at six points or more the rest of the way.
Game Summary
First Quarter
• Liberty shot 5-of-7 from three-point range during the first quarter, including three by Lytle and a banked-in triple by Rettstatt as the period expired. That closed out an 8-0 Liberty run, giving the Lady Flames a 19-13 through 10 minutes of play.
Second Quarter
• Lytle tallied the final five points of a 9-0 Liberty burst early in the second quarter, including an up-and-under layup which gave the Lady Flames their largest lead of the opening half, 28-16.
• The Ospreys knocked down three triples during the last 3:14 of the opening half, battling back to within six (36-30) at the intermission.
Third Quarter
• North Florida outscored Liberty 9-2 over the first 7:38 of the second half, briefly taking a 39-38 advantage on Erin Jones' triple.
• Liberty bounced back with six straight points to finish out the period, taking a 44-39 lead into the fourth quarter despite shooting just 20 percent (3-of-15) from the field for the stanza.
Fourth Quarter
• Lytle (eight points) and Rettstatt (six points) combined to outscore North Florida (13 points) by themselves during the final period. The Ospreys were still within six (55-49) before Lytle's fifth and final triple of the contest swished through the net with just 2:51 remaining. That proved to be the dagger, sending Liberty on its way back to the title game.
Notes and Nuggets
• Lytle is now averaging 19.1 ppg during seven career ASUN Championship outings and has knocked down 21 triples during tournament play.
• Lytle has now hit 51 three-pointers this season, putting her over the 50 mark for the third year in a row.
• Lytle scored 20 points for the sixth time this year and the 16th time in her career. In the process, she passed Pam Wilder for 14th place on Liberty's all-time scoring list. Lytle has now totaled 1,128 points during her three seasons as a Lady Flame.
• Rettstatt's 13 points were her most since a 16-point outing against Jacksonville on Jan. 31.
• Williams' eight assists tied her career high.
• Liberty's first of eight triples on Friday set a new program single-season record. The 2013-14 Lady Flames had held the previous record with 175 three-pointers. Liberty has now knocked down 183 triples this season.
• Liberty is now 4-4 all-time against North Florida. The home team had won the previous seven meetings, while Friday's matchup was the teams' first on a neutral court.
• The Lady Flames improved to 6-1 in ASUN Championship contests.
• Friday's victory was the 495th of Carey Green's coaching career. He is 53-6 coaching in conference tournament games.
