Lady Flames clinch No. 1 seed on senior night
Team Leaders — Senior Rachel McLeod and her family, along with fellow seniors Dymond Morgan and Kittery Maine, celebrated four years of success at Liberty Friday night. The night was capped with a 72-58 win over UNC Asheville to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Big South Tournament. Credit: Les Schofer
Senior night for Dymond Morgan, Rachel McLeod and Kittery Maine ended with an exclamation point to usher out the trio’s careers. The Lady Flames topped UNC Asheville 72-58 in the second to last home game of the season.
The Bulldogs opened the game on a 13-4 run favoring execution to the Lady Flames emotion.
“There was a lot of emotion going on during senior night, but we have to give UNC Asheville credit for coming out a little more focused,” head coach Carey Green said. “They are a well coach team and played better on the road this year.”
After settling down, the Lady Flames answered with a 13-2 run, eventually taking a thirteen point lead late in the first half. Although the Lady Flames played consistent defense, holding the Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting from the field, turnovers plagued them on offense. The Lady Flames committed nine turnovers in the first half which helped the Bulldogs reduce the double-digit lead to eight. By halftime Liberty led 33-25, thanks to Avery Warley’s 14 points and five rebounds. UNC Asheville was able to stay relevant and kept the score close because of Kendall Shepard’s 10-point first-half effort.
The Bulldogs continued to claw their way back into the game, coming within five points of the Lady Flames. Turnovers continued to derail the Lady Flames in the second half and the Bulldogs converted off of those mistakes.
“(We knew) that it was a mistake and (it is) nothing we can do anything about, we just have to keep executing,” Warley said.
Liberty began to heat up in the second half, shooting 54 percent from the field, mainly due to half of their total points in the paint. Liberty out-rebounded UNC Asheville 47-26, which enabled them to scored 21 second chance points.
Towards the end of the game, Devon Brown began to stretch Liberty’s slim lead. Brown scored 13 consecutive points, ultimately finishing the game with a team-high 27 points.
“Devon is an elite player and she came ready to play, it was good to see her finish out strong and hopefully she can use this [game] to continue on into Monday’s game and into the Big South Tournament. It is good seeing the old Devon Brown back.” Green said.
Warley also contributed with 24 points and 10 rebounds; this was her fifteenth double-double this season. “I was able to finish a lot of shots, just taking advantage of the missed shots from others and putting them back up,” Warley said.
Liberty boosted their record to 19-9 (13-2 BSC) with the win against UNC Asheville. They also come in as the No. 1 seed in the Big South Tournament.
“One of our goals was for the season was to win the regular season and go into the tournament seeded as number one,” Green said. “We feel that there is an advantage to that.”
The Lady Flames host Presbyterian College in their final regular season game Monday, March 7 in the Vines Center.
Post-season run
The women’s Big South Tourament begins March 11, in High Point, N.C. The Lady Flames take on the No. 8 seed Coastal Carolina Lady Chanticleers.
The semi-final round will be March 12 and the championship game will be played March 13. Radford, Gardner-Webb and High Point round out the No. 2 through No. 4 seeds respectively.