No. 1 Liberty Moves Past No. 8 Charleston Southern, 80-53
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Second chances were meaningful for No. 1 seed Liberty in two different ways during Friday afternoon’s 80-53 victory over No. 8 seed Charleston Southern in a Big South Women’s Basketball Championship quarterfinal clash at the Vines Center. One year after being eliminated by CSU in the quarterfinals, Liberty made the most of its second chance against the Buccaneers, keyed by a season-high 31 second-chance points.
BOX SCORE
POSTGAME REACTION
Junior KK Barbour paced the Lady Flames in points (18), rebounds (9), assists (3) and steals (3) on a day when Liberty’s post players controlled the action. Keyen Green (12 points, 6 rebounds) and Ola Makurat (12 points, 5 rebounds) also stepped up as the Lady Flames enjoyed a season-high +27 (43-16) rebound margin.
Liberty corralled 19 offensive boards and racked up 52 points in the paint, leading to its sixth consecutive victory overall and its 13th straight home win since last season’s tournament defeat to CSU.
As a result, Liberty (22-9) advances to the Big South Championship semifinal round for the 21st time in the last 22 years. The Lady Flames will face the winner of Friday’s matchup between No. 4 seed High Point and No. 5 seed Presbyterian, Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Vines Center.
Charleston Southern’s season ends at 11-20 despite 11 points from Njeri Nelms and 10 more from Shauntavia Dobson, the Buccaneers’ lone senior. Meeting Liberty in the Big South quarterfinals for the third straight season, CSU shot just 29.2 percent (7-of-24) in the second half after a hot start. Additionally, 15 Buccaneer turnovers led to 24 Liberty points on the day.
Barbour scored five points during the game’s first 2:15, helping stake Liberty to an early 6-0 advantage. Charleston Southern later closed the first period with a 7-0 run, taking a 12-9 lead after 10 minutes of play.
CSU shot 62.5 percent (5-of-8) during the first quarter while holding Liberty to 25 percent (3-of-12) with four turnovers. The Buccaneers’ Weknyne Dumorne scored six points to spark the Buccaneers’ fast start.
Liberty scored eight straight points midway through the second quarter, including four in a row by Barbour. The junior’s putback at the 5:54 mark provided Liberty a 22-15 advantage.
Triples by Dobson and Nelms helped CSU pull back within a single point (24-23), 3:51 before halftime. The Lady Flames then outscored the Buccaneers by a 12-3 count during the remainder of the opening half, boosted by back-to-back Ashtyn Baker layups. After making only seven of their first 21 field goal attempts, Liberty hit six of its final eight shots while building a 36-26 halftime lead. The Lady Flames shot 58.8 percent (10-of-17) during a 27-point second quarter.
Barbour scored 12 first-half points for the Lady Flames in the first half as Liberty flexed its muscle around the hoop. Liberty controlled the rebounding (20-7), points in the paint (22-10) and second-chance points (18-2) categories before halftime.
Nelms paced CSU with seven first-half points, including two of her team’s three triples. The Buccaneers shot 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the field during the opening half.
Liberty continued to build its lead in the third quarter, holding the Buccaneers without a made field goal for the period’s final 3:41. The Lady Flames outscored CSU, 11-3, over that span, extending their advantage to 57-39 heading to the fourth quarter. Liberty shot 56.3 percent (9-of-16) during the third period, getting seven points from Makurat.
The visitors scored the fourth quarter’s first three points, pulling to within 57-42 on Dobson’s free throw with 8:14 left. But that’s as close as Charleston Southern got as Liberty fashioned its third straight quarter with 20 or more points. The Lady Flames’ lead eventually reached 28 points before Liberty finished with its largest margin of victory in a Big South Championship game (27 points) since a 71-43 triumph over Campbell in the 2015 semifinals.
After its slow start, Liberty’s field goal percentage reached 50.8 percent (31-of-61) by the end of the game, while CSU dipped to 40.5 percent (17-of-42). The Buccaneers became the 15th straight opponent Liberty has held below the 60-point mark.
Eleven different Lady Flames scored points as Liberty finished with a 33-19 advantage in bench points.
Barbour, playing in her team-high fifth career Big South Championship contest on Friday, scored in double digits for the fifth consecutive game. Green and Makurat each tallied 10+ points for the fourth game in a row, and Liberty improved to 10-1 this season when Makurat reaches double figures.