Monday, February 8
Lynchburg, Va.
7:00 PM
Liberty University
17-5, 7-2BSC
56
vs
59
Gardner-Webb
19-3, 8-1BSC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gardner-Webb | 25 | 34 | 59 |
| Liberty | 27 | 29 | 56 |
GWUs Late Comeback Upends Lady Flames, 59-56
2/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Gardner-Webb junior Dominique Hudson scored all 14 of her points during the second half of Monday evening's battle between Big South Conference co-leaders at the Vines Center, helping the Bulldogs erase a nine-point deficit. Her three-pointer with 19.0 seconds remaining proved to be the game-winner as Gardner-Webb took over first place with a 59-56 victory at Liberty.
The Lady Flames fall to 17-5 overall and 7-2 in Big South play, after seeing their 10-game winning streak snapped. Liberty had also won 17 straight conference home games, since a 54-51 loss to UNC Asheville on Feb. 24, 2007.
Gardner-Webb, which has won seven games in a row, is 19-3 overall and 8-1 in the conference. The Bulldogs become only the second Big South team in Carey Green's 11 seasons as head coach to sweep the regular-season series against the Lady Flames.
Courtney Epps scored Gardner-Webb's first five points, staking the black-clad Bulldogs to a 5-2 advantage within the opening 2:17 of play.
Liberty countered with a 7-0 burst, with Avery Warley accounting for the last five tallies. The redshirt sophomore's layup at 15:56 gave the Lady Flames a 9-5 edge.
The home team remained in front until 9:25 remained in the half, when Monique Hudson put Gardner-Webb back on top, 14-13, with a nifty reverse layup in traffic.
Shortly thereafter, the Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run, punctuated by Epps' third triple of the opening half. Her three-pointer made the score 25-19, Gardner-Webb, 5:04 before the intermission.
However, the Bulldogs did not score again before halftime, as Liberty closed the opening stanza with an 8-0 surge. Devon Brown notched five of the Lady Flames' points, including a tip-in at the 49-second mark which gave Liberty a 27-25 halftime edge.
Gardner-Webb shot the ball better from the field than Liberty in the first half, hitting 47.8 percent (11-of-23) of its attempts, while the Lady Flames checked in at 38.5 percent (10-of-26). However, the Bulldogs misfired on their lone free throw try of the period, as compared to an 85.7 percent (6-of-7) showing by the home team.
Liberty also won the rebounding battle, 18-12, and outscored its guest by the same score during the opening 20 minutes of play. The Lady Flames forced a dozen Gardner-Webb turnovers, converting the miscues into 11 points.
Warley and Brown combined for 22 of Liberty's 27 opening-half points and 14 of the Lady Flames' 18 boards. The duo recorded 11 points apiece, with Warley collecting eight boards and Brown grabbing a half dozen.
Epps paced the visitors with 11 markers before the break, while Roundtree chipped in six. LaTroya Pope was Gardner-Webb's leading first-half rebounder, with three caroms.
Liberty scored the first six points of the second half, pushing its advantage to 33-25 on Rachel McLeod's driving layup at 17:36. Her hoop completed a 14-0 Lady Flames run during a 7:37 scoreless drought by the Bulldogs.
After Epps broke the ice with a layup, Gardner-Webb scored nine consecutive points. The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead at 34-33 with 15:07 showing on the second-half clock, when Sandra Vaitkute drilled a left-handed layup.
Liberty continued the back-and-forth trend with an ensuing 13-3 burst. Danika Dale accounted for six points during the surge, including an old-fashioned three-point play and a triple from the left wing. McLeod then followed Dale's long-distance connection with one of her own at the 11:42 mark, lifting the Lady Flames to their largest lead of the evening, 46-37.
The Lady Flames' advantage still stood at seven points, 52-45, when Amber Mays split a pair of foul shots at 5:58. Liberty only managed four markers the rest of the way, closing the game by missing eight of its last 10 field goal attempts.
Meanwhile, Gardner-Webb made six of its last seven shots from the floor, including Monique Hudson's hoop from close range with 1:24 left which leveled the score at 54-54.
Warley scored on a spin move in the paint on Liberty's next possession, giving the Lady Flames a two-point cushion, 56-54, at the 53-second mark.
After a Roundtree offensive rebound extended Gardner-Webb's next trip to the offensive end, Dominique Hudson sank the game-winner. Coming out of a timeout, she used a ball screen and found nothing but net from beyond the arc on the right wing. Her timely triple put the Bulldogs ahead, 57-56, with 19 seconds remaining.
Mays was able to penetrate for the Lady Flames, but her shot attempt from the paint caromed off the rim and into Roundtree's arms. The Gardner-Webb senior was quickly fouled and then knocked down both of her free throws, extending the visitors' advantage to 59-56 at the 7-second mark.
Kylee Beecher got a look at a potential game-tying triple from the top of the key, but could not connect and the Bulldogs came away with a three-point victory.
A few statistics tell the second-half story, as Gardner-Webb became the first team this season to erase a halftime deficit and defeat the Lady Flames. The Bulldogs shot 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the field, as compared with Liberty's 40.7 percent (11-of-27). Gardner-Webb also outscored Liberty in the paint, 18-16, and took advantage of the Lady Flames' 45.5 percent (5-of-11) shooting from the charity stripe during the final 20 minutes.
Gardner-Webb finished the game at 52.3 percent (23-of-44) field goal shooting, ending Liberty's 105-game streak of holding opponents below 50 percent from the floor. The last team to make half of its field goals against the Lady Flames was Marist, on Dec. 29, 2006. Meanwhile, Liberty shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53) on the evening.
The Lady Flames did own the advantages both on the glass, 33-27, and in points in the paint, 34-30. Liberty also scored 15 second-chance points to the Bulldogs' five.
Warley and Brown both tallied double-doubles for the Lady Flames. Warley's game-high 15 points and 10 boards give her five double-doubles in her last six games. She is also now one of Liberty's top 50 career scorers with 498 points.
Brown contributed 13 points and a matching number of rebounds, pacing all players on the boards. However, she was held to two points after halftime. McLeod added nine points, all of which came during the second half.
Four Bulldogs scored in double digits, led by Dominique Hudson, who totaled six assists and a trio of steals to go along with her team-leading 14 points. Epps chipped in 13 points, Monique Hudson added 11 and Vaitkute ended up with 10 markers. Pope grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Liberty will play only one game in the next 11 days, a Feb. 15 Big South road contest at Winthrop. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at the Winthrop Coliseum, as the Lady Flames attempt to complete a season sweep of the Eagles. Liberty defeated Winthrop by a 67-38 margin during the teams' first matchup this season, Jan. 9 at the Vines Center.
Meanwhile, Gardner-Webb will remain within the Commonwealth for a Wednesday game versus Radford. The contest is set for a 7 p.m. start at the Dedmon Center. The Highlanders dealt the Bulldogs their only Big South setback of the season, 68-53, Jan. 4 at Paul Porter Arena.
The Lady Flames fall to 17-5 overall and 7-2 in Big South play, after seeing their 10-game winning streak snapped. Liberty had also won 17 straight conference home games, since a 54-51 loss to UNC Asheville on Feb. 24, 2007.
Gardner-Webb, which has won seven games in a row, is 19-3 overall and 8-1 in the conference. The Bulldogs become only the second Big South team in Carey Green's 11 seasons as head coach to sweep the regular-season series against the Lady Flames.
Courtney Epps scored Gardner-Webb's first five points, staking the black-clad Bulldogs to a 5-2 advantage within the opening 2:17 of play.
Liberty countered with a 7-0 burst, with Avery Warley accounting for the last five tallies. The redshirt sophomore's layup at 15:56 gave the Lady Flames a 9-5 edge.
The home team remained in front until 9:25 remained in the half, when Monique Hudson put Gardner-Webb back on top, 14-13, with a nifty reverse layup in traffic.
Shortly thereafter, the Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run, punctuated by Epps' third triple of the opening half. Her three-pointer made the score 25-19, Gardner-Webb, 5:04 before the intermission.
However, the Bulldogs did not score again before halftime, as Liberty closed the opening stanza with an 8-0 surge. Devon Brown notched five of the Lady Flames' points, including a tip-in at the 49-second mark which gave Liberty a 27-25 halftime edge.
Gardner-Webb shot the ball better from the field than Liberty in the first half, hitting 47.8 percent (11-of-23) of its attempts, while the Lady Flames checked in at 38.5 percent (10-of-26). However, the Bulldogs misfired on their lone free throw try of the period, as compared to an 85.7 percent (6-of-7) showing by the home team.
Liberty also won the rebounding battle, 18-12, and outscored its guest by the same score during the opening 20 minutes of play. The Lady Flames forced a dozen Gardner-Webb turnovers, converting the miscues into 11 points.
Warley and Brown combined for 22 of Liberty's 27 opening-half points and 14 of the Lady Flames' 18 boards. The duo recorded 11 points apiece, with Warley collecting eight boards and Brown grabbing a half dozen.
Epps paced the visitors with 11 markers before the break, while Roundtree chipped in six. LaTroya Pope was Gardner-Webb's leading first-half rebounder, with three caroms.
Liberty scored the first six points of the second half, pushing its advantage to 33-25 on Rachel McLeod's driving layup at 17:36. Her hoop completed a 14-0 Lady Flames run during a 7:37 scoreless drought by the Bulldogs.
After Epps broke the ice with a layup, Gardner-Webb scored nine consecutive points. The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead at 34-33 with 15:07 showing on the second-half clock, when Sandra Vaitkute drilled a left-handed layup.
Liberty continued the back-and-forth trend with an ensuing 13-3 burst. Danika Dale accounted for six points during the surge, including an old-fashioned three-point play and a triple from the left wing. McLeod then followed Dale's long-distance connection with one of her own at the 11:42 mark, lifting the Lady Flames to their largest lead of the evening, 46-37.
The Lady Flames' advantage still stood at seven points, 52-45, when Amber Mays split a pair of foul shots at 5:58. Liberty only managed four markers the rest of the way, closing the game by missing eight of its last 10 field goal attempts.
Meanwhile, Gardner-Webb made six of its last seven shots from the floor, including Monique Hudson's hoop from close range with 1:24 left which leveled the score at 54-54.
Warley scored on a spin move in the paint on Liberty's next possession, giving the Lady Flames a two-point cushion, 56-54, at the 53-second mark.
After a Roundtree offensive rebound extended Gardner-Webb's next trip to the offensive end, Dominique Hudson sank the game-winner. Coming out of a timeout, she used a ball screen and found nothing but net from beyond the arc on the right wing. Her timely triple put the Bulldogs ahead, 57-56, with 19 seconds remaining.
Mays was able to penetrate for the Lady Flames, but her shot attempt from the paint caromed off the rim and into Roundtree's arms. The Gardner-Webb senior was quickly fouled and then knocked down both of her free throws, extending the visitors' advantage to 59-56 at the 7-second mark.
Kylee Beecher got a look at a potential game-tying triple from the top of the key, but could not connect and the Bulldogs came away with a three-point victory.
A few statistics tell the second-half story, as Gardner-Webb became the first team this season to erase a halftime deficit and defeat the Lady Flames. The Bulldogs shot 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the field, as compared with Liberty's 40.7 percent (11-of-27). Gardner-Webb also outscored Liberty in the paint, 18-16, and took advantage of the Lady Flames' 45.5 percent (5-of-11) shooting from the charity stripe during the final 20 minutes.
Gardner-Webb finished the game at 52.3 percent (23-of-44) field goal shooting, ending Liberty's 105-game streak of holding opponents below 50 percent from the floor. The last team to make half of its field goals against the Lady Flames was Marist, on Dec. 29, 2006. Meanwhile, Liberty shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53) on the evening.
The Lady Flames did own the advantages both on the glass, 33-27, and in points in the paint, 34-30. Liberty also scored 15 second-chance points to the Bulldogs' five.
Warley and Brown both tallied double-doubles for the Lady Flames. Warley's game-high 15 points and 10 boards give her five double-doubles in her last six games. She is also now one of Liberty's top 50 career scorers with 498 points.
Brown contributed 13 points and a matching number of rebounds, pacing all players on the boards. However, she was held to two points after halftime. McLeod added nine points, all of which came during the second half.
Four Bulldogs scored in double digits, led by Dominique Hudson, who totaled six assists and a trio of steals to go along with her team-leading 14 points. Epps chipped in 13 points, Monique Hudson added 11 and Vaitkute ended up with 10 markers. Pope grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Liberty will play only one game in the next 11 days, a Feb. 15 Big South road contest at Winthrop. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at the Winthrop Coliseum, as the Lady Flames attempt to complete a season sweep of the Eagles. Liberty defeated Winthrop by a 67-38 margin during the teams' first matchup this season, Jan. 9 at the Vines Center.
Meanwhile, Gardner-Webb will remain within the Commonwealth for a Wednesday game versus Radford. The contest is set for a 7 p.m. start at the Dedmon Center. The Highlanders dealt the Bulldogs their only Big South setback of the season, 68-53, Jan. 4 at Paul Porter Arena.
Team Stats
GWU
LIBERTY
FG%
.523
.396
3FG%
.462
.273
FT%
.583
.611
RB
27
33
TO
17
15
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
1
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