Liberty women win Big South, earn NCAA invite
Standout performances by Devon Brown, Reagan Miller and tournament MVP Avery Warley led No. 1 seed Liberty to a come-from-behind 81-73 victory over No. 2 seed High Point in Sunday afternoon’s Big South Women’s Basketball Championship title game. The hard-fought win inside High Point’s Millis Center wrapped up the Lady Flames’ 14th Big South title in the last 16 seasons.
Brown, named to the all-tournament team along with Warley, scored a team-high 24 points and pulled down a game-high and career-high 14 rebounds. Miller had 15 points and eight assists. Meanwhile, Warley’s third double-double in as many days consisted of 14 points and a dozen boards. Read more
Liberty women escape in 2OTs
Playing in its first double overtime game in more than eight years, the Liberty women’s basketball team needed career days from Reagan Miller and Avery Warley to turn back Charleston Southern’s upset bid, Saturday afternoon at the Vines Center. In the end, Miller’s career-high 23 points and Warley’s career-best 23 rebounds helped the Lady Flames pull out a 77-69 double overtime victory.
Miller forced overtime with a three-pointer with 53 seconds left in regulation. Charleston Southern’s Rachelle Coward then pushed the game to a second extra session, making three free throws with four seconds remaining in overtime. Read more
Liberty women top Radford
Liberty started its New Year’s Eve celebration a few hours early by opening its Big South Conference schedule with a hard-fought 76-68 win at Radford Saturday afternoon. The Lady Flames used a 16-0 run early in the second half to break open a close game, and held off several rally attempts by the Highlanders down the stretch at the Dedmon Center.
The Lady Flames, who leveled their overall record at 6-6, start the Big South schedule at 1-0 for the 11th time in the last 12 years. Liberty, which put four players in double figures in the scoring column, shot a season-best 60.5 percent (26-of-43) from the field for the contest.
Radford drops to 6-6 overall and 0-1 in conference play, despite forcing 39 Liberty turnovers and turning the miscues into 42 points. It was the fifth straight season the Lady Flames have posted a win inside the Dedmon Center. Read more
Liberty wins nailbiter with VCU
Liberty squandered a 13-point halftime lead Tuesday evening at VCU, but later came back from a five-point second-half deficit to win at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Lady Flames’ 59-57 victory marked their first road triumph of the season.
Waynesboro High School graduate Devon Brown scored Liberty’s final four points, including a pair of free throws in the final 12 seconds that helped seal the win. She finished with 10 points, making her one of three Lady Flames to score in double figures on the night. Liberty’s balanced effort overcame a 26-point, 15-rebound night by the Rams’ Courtney Hurt, the nation’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer. Read more
One and done: Local women’s teams out of NCAAs
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Monica Wright, Dawn Evans and Devon Brown did their parts, but UVa., JMU and Liberty each fell short in their first-round NCAA Tournament games over the weekend.
Wright had 34 points and nine rebounds in her final game as a Cavalier, which saw fifth-seeded Virginia fall 69-67 to 12th-seeded Wisconsin-Green Bay on Sunday. Read more
Brown leads Liberty to Big South Tourney win
Edited by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Redshirt freshman Devon Brown’s 23 points and eight rebounds helped No. 2 seed Liberty take down No. 7 seed Radford, 70-52, in the Advance Auto Parts Big South Women’s Basketball Championship, Friday evening at the Millis Center.
Brown, a 2008 Waynesboro High School graduate, also reached a milestone during the second half, becoming the 51st player in program history to tally 500 career points and joining Elena Kisseleva as the only Lady Flames ever to do so as freshmen.
Liberty’s eighth straight victory pushes the Lady Flames’ season record to 25-5. The Lady Flames have now recorded seven 25-win campaigns in program history and have reached the semifinal round of the Big South Championship 14 straight times.
Liberty will now face the winner of Friday’s final quarterfinal matchup, between No. 3 seed High Point and No. 6 seed Winthrop. The semifinal tilt will tip off Saturday at 3 p.m. and will be televised live by SportSouth and MASN.
Liberty holds off VMI
Posted by afp on January 22, 2011 · Leave a Comment
For the game, Liberty shot 56.3% from the field, including 9 of 11 from three-point range (81.8%). The Flames (14-7, 8-1 Big South) placed five players in double figures, and had 26 assists to VMI’s 15. Minaya’s point total and Sanders’ assist mark were both career highs. Read more
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