LIBERTY USES LATE-GAME HEROICS TO ESCAPE WITH 67-65 WIN OVER HIGHLANDERS

BOX SCORE RADFORD, Va. – For the second straight game, a late rally by the opposing side caused the Radford women's basketball team to fall as Liberty escaped the Dedmon Center with a 67-65 Big South nail-biting victory Saturday evening.

Da'Naria Erwin Spencer led the Highlanders (3-3, 0-1 Big South) with a season-high 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting. She now is tied for seventh with Corrie Fertitta on the all-time career scoring chart with 1,215 points.

Ashley Buckhannon (9), Sarah Tabb (8) and Ayana Avery (8) also neared double-digit scoring.

The Lady Flames were led by reigning Big South Player of the Week, Devon Brown, who put up a game-high 28 points to go along with eight rebounds. Jasmine Gardner contributed a double-double (11 points and 12 rebounds), while Tolu Omotola tallied eight points and a career-high 13 rebounds.

Radford out-shot the visitors, 43.5 percent to 33.9 percent, and won the turnover battle, 10-17. RU converted those 17 turnovers into 26 points. The Highlanders went to its bench to score 21 points, compared to just 12 from Liberty's reserves.

However, what Liberty is known for is rebounding and the Lady Flames did some damage on the boards, snaring 50 compared to the Highlanders' 32. The visitors turned those second-chance opportunities into 18 points.

“We are obviously disappointed in our result tonight,” expressed head coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba. “However, our young ladies fought extremely hard tonight against a very talented Liberty squad. Their size always plays a big factor, but we did a great job scoring in transition and had major contributions off the bench to allow us an opportunity to win this game.”

Brown canned an early triple to cap an 11-4 surge to open the contest. Back-to-back baskets by Da'Naria Erwin Spencer and Sarah Tabb cut the margin to three (11-8) before the visitors embarked on another spurt.

At the 13:31 mark, Brown diced through two defenders to spark a 7-0 run to give the Lady Flames a double-digit lead (18-8) with 12:00 minutes remaining in the opening stanza.

The hosts responded with a run of their own. Erwin Spencer buried a jumper at the 9:33 mark to ignite an 11-0 rally, which gave the Highlanders the lead after an Ema Reskoska hook shot in the paint.

After Liberty reclaimed the lead at 25-21 with 5:56 showing on the clock, an Ayana Avery trey started a 10-0 rally that gave the Highlanders a 31-25 advantage. Radford went into break ahead, 36-32.

The visitors outscored the Highlanders 8-4 during the first four minutes of the second stanza to tie the game at 40. On the ensuing Radford possession, Erwin Spencer dropped in a deuce to spark a 9-0 surge that gave the hosts a 49-40 advantage with 12:50 left in the contest.

On the other end, LaKendra Washington canned a 3-pointer to fuel a 9-2 run that allowed Liberty to get within two (51-49) with 10:46 remaining in the game. Radford withstood the surge, however, and went back up six (61-55) following a Victoria Hamilton basket with 4:39 to go.

Liberty's next trip down the court saw Brown take it to the rack for two and after a defensive stop, the redshirt senior connected on two critical free throws at the 4:01 mark to trim the Radford advantage to two (61-59). Following the final media timeout, Hamilton went to the charity strip and converted 1-of-2 charity tosses to up the difference to three (62-59) with 3:13 remaining.

Neither team scored for over a minute before Brown's 3-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim and backboard before falling through tied the league tilt for just the second time at 62 with 2:08 remaining. On Radford's ensuing possession, Jordynn Gaymon collected an offensive board and converted the second-chance opportunity for a 64-62 edge with 1:41 to go.

The lead was kept for all of 12 seconds as Katelyn Adams converted a layup on the other end for the Lady Flames to tie the contest once more. Erwin Spencer drew a foul on the next exchange and knocked down 1-of-2 from the stripe to snatch a 65-64 lead with 59 ticks remaining.

Liberty scored three straight points, a Tolu Omotola layup and a Jasmine Gardner free throw, to reclaim the lead with 11 seconds left. Off the inbounds play, Erwin Spencer drove the length of the court, but Lady Flames were draped all around her forcing the senior to take an off-balance jumper that bounced off the iron as time expired.

Radford's grueling stretch of games continues with a road trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., Wednesday, Dec. 5. The non-conference clash between the Highlanders and the Tar Heels tips at 7:00 p.m. from Carmichael Arena and marks as the second of three ACC foes RU will face on its schedule this season.

Print Friendly Version