Right on time
Late three leads Lady Flames to win
BUCKETS — Freshman guard Lela Sellers shot past a contesting Bulldogs defender.
Photo Credit: Caroline Sellers
The Lady Flames women’s basketball team (8-13, 7-3) beat Gardner-Webb (9-12,4-6) in a repeat matchup from earlier this January, and this time Liberty came out victorious at home with a score of 66-63 Saturday, Feb. 4.
The Lady Flames were away at Paul Porter Arena Jan. 15 when they lost in overtime 82-84 to Gardner-Webb.
This time at Vines, the team was able to win by a clutch three-point shot by junior forward Lela Sellers.
“It was very emotional,” sophomore forward KK Barbour said.
“We really wanted to beat them because they took one from us at their place which they should not have beat us. It was great that we got the win back.”
Liberty Head Coach Carey Green also commented on the emotional win at home.
“It’s really tough the second time around to play somebody because you are used to not only the plays and strategies but personnel as well,” Green said.
The entire game was close, with the biggest lead being a 10-point lead by Liberty.
Liberty held Gardner-Webb’s star player, redshirt junior guard Tierra Huntsman, from scoring until within two minutes of the first quarter when she scored three points.
Liberty held her to just five points in the first half.
However, she came back in the second half, ending with 13 points in the game.
Sellers, who guarded Huntsman, talked about the importance of staying in
front of her.
“It is important to play smart on her because she will drive it and try to create contact so then she can get the foul,” Sellers said.
In addition, Gardner-Webb’s junior guard Alexus Hill, who during the last matchup put up 27 points, was held to six points in the first half.
She then scored two more points in the second half ending with a total of eight.
The Lady Flames dominated the first quarter with both freshman guard Iva Ilic and Sellers scoring five points.
The first quarter ended with a score of 20-11 in Liberty’s favor.
The Bulldogs caught up during the second quarter due to scoring on offensive rebounding in the paint.
They scored 18 of their 31 on points in the paint, bringing their deficit to 34-31 at the half.
Fouls dominated the first few minutes for Liberty of the third quarter leading to easy points for Gardner-Webb.
Ilic starting the third off with three fouls forced her to sit out for most of the quarter until she came in for Sellers after she received her fourth foul.
Freshmen forward Keyen Green, as well as Barbour, were powerhouses in the paint.
Barbour finished with nine points and five rebounds, while Greenn led the team in scoring with 16 points including 12 in the second half.
“I got my timing down in the second half,” Green said.
Throughout the fourth quarter, the teams remained neck-and-neck, with the score remaining within two points.
It was at the two-minute mark when the game kicked into gear.
Sellers hit a game-changing 3-pointer that gave Liberty the lead by one.
Liberty furthered their lead with two free throws from sophomore guard
Tatyana Crowder.
After a missed layup from Liberty junior guard Nene Johnson, the Bulldogs got the ball back with 11.3 seconds left with Liberty up by three points as a timeout was called.
“We had to be really smart,” Barbour said.
“We couldn’t foul them in the act of shooting. We had to tune in and go for the steal.”
Liberty strategically fouled Gardner-Webb because they were not in the shooting bonus, thus forcing the Bulldogs to eat up the clock with each foul Liberty acquired.
Huntsman missed the last shot for the Bulldogs, resulting in a Liberty win with a score of 66-63.
The Lady Flames take on Radford Tuesday, Feb. 7 at home.