Hitting everything

Makurat has career night for the Lady Flames

 

DRIVE — Freshman guard Ola Makurat pump-faked the 3-point shot and took the ball into the paint. Photo Credit: Caroline Sellers

DRIVE — Freshman guard Ola Makurat pump-faked the 3-point shot and took the ball into the paint.
Photo Credit: Caroline Sellers

The Lady Flames women’s basketball team comfortably defeated the Winthrop Eagles (2-18, 1-6) 80-51 with the help of aggressive defense Saturday, Jan. 28.

After a sluggish first possession, Liberty (6-13, 5-3) went on an 11-0 run with the help of a pair of 3-pointers from freshman guards Ola Makurat and Iva Ilic.

However, the Eagles responded with a 6-0 run, thanks to early dominance in the rebounding game that would bring the score to 11-8.

The slow start is uncharacteristic of the Lady Flames, who lead the Big South in total rebounds with 857.

But the Lady Flames would make up for their hesitation on the boards with the help of their constant full-court pressure on defense, and begin to pull away from the Eagles.

“We had been practicing to be a little more aggressive defensively, and that changes our whole aggression on both ends,” Head Coach Carey Green said.

“You’ve gotta be aggressive on defense, rotate and get everybody involved, and then on the offensive end, we still want to get everybody involved.”

The Lady Flames were also led by a career night from Makurat, who went 7-11 from the field with 15 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.

“I think it was (Makurat’s) best game of the year,” Green said.

“As long as she’s focused, our team is going to do very well. We need her.”

Makurat set the pace for the rest of the team at the start of the third quarter, as she produced eight of her 15 points at the start of the half to contribute to the Lady Flames dominant 24-3 run.

“I think we did our job,” Makurat said.

“We were focused on the little things, and that is our motto for this season. I think you can see the affect it has on the game from our hard work.”

Green said the team focused on not only playing aggressive on defense, but also taking turnovers and turning them into team basketball.

“I really thought that we turned them over a few times and got some easy, quick scores, and really shared the ball with 18 assists tonight,” Green said.

Four of the five starters for the Lady Flames are freshmen, so even at this point in the season they are still building chemistry.

“We are trying to work better with each other,” Makurat said.
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“We understand each other, and we are also having fun on the court. I made a lot of shots, but only because of the team’s passes. We — as a team — played well. It wasn’t only my work.”

The Lady Flames bench also had one of its best performances of the season, outscoring the Eagle’s bench 34-13.

“We all practice hard,” Green said.

“They all want opportunities to play. We got a lot of energy from the bench. “We really needed that. … You have someone like (freshman guard) Kaila Ballard, who just got in there at the end and already scored two points. I’m proud of her and the way they executed that play. I’m proud of all those who got in and got involved in the game.”

The Lady Flames victory ties them with Charleston Southern for second place in the Big South.

Liberty will look to advance in the rankings when they play at Campbell University Jan. 31.

Davis is the asst. sports editor.

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