[Stevev]

This game might be considered meaningless for some people but I don't take it that way. We need momentum going into the tournament and we need to preserve that 13th seed that is projected right now in the NCAA's if we keep winning. The NCAA tourney would be a great opportunity to get some national attention if we can keep it close or pull off an upset. But let's not look ahead. We need to take care of the business at hand on our home floor, get a good crowd out there (hopefully more than 2000 screeming fans), and give our fans something to look forward to for the future. Besides a loss to Radford would hurt our pride a little. We can't afford that right now. Go Lady Flames!!

[absturgill]

I just looked at the ESPN Brackets and right now we are projected as a #13 seed playing in Denver against BYU in the opener. I also have the high speed finally working so I will be watching SCAR on the computer

[Stevev]

BYU would be a great matchup for us. I think we could make things interesting if the teams plays up to their capabilities. But I guess I will worry about that when the BSC tourney is all said and done

[Sly Fox]

Thanks for starting the thread, steve.

FTN Webstream

[Stevev]

You are welcome. Hopefully our ladies will take care of business.

[Stevev]

The first half is in the books. Looks like we are sleepwalking right now. Hope the pick up the intensity in the second half.

[Stevev]

Courtney with the 3. Now up by 8. The sloppiness continues though.

[Stevev]

Molly with the 3 up by 10

[Stevev]

LU wins 69-58. Turned it up in the second half.

[thesportscritic]

Late in the second half LU didn't quite have those killer instincts to put Radford away. We turned the ball over against full court pressure because of their lack of patience and let them get back in the game. Roli-Ann was all over the place on defense today. Got to play defense for the entire game. When the defense was on, Radford couldn't do anything they wanted to offensively. Well it is time to take care of business in the conference tournament starting on Tuesday night.

[Chris Lang]

Some of the sloppiness had to do with Liberty playing lots of backups for extended minutes ... they went a long time with a lineup of Bream-Molly Frazee-Lightfoot-Parker-Jones ... Carey didn't want to play any of the starters extended minutes today.

[Stevev]

I can see that no one had over 24 minutes. Cary Green does a great job of getting everyone involved provided they can get the job done.

[thesportscritic]

Some of the sloppiness had to do with Liberty playing lots of backups for extended minutes ... they went a long time with a lineup of Bream-Molly Frazee-Lightfoot-Parker-Jones ... Carey didn't want to play any of the starters extended minutes today.

I guess that particular line up doesn't play much on the floor.

[TIMSCAR20]

Sorry Absturgil but I don't normally call the women's games unless someone gets sick like Brandon Pickett did on Monday night. Too bad you got your igh speed late because you missed all the men's games. Good news is I think we may have the budget approved to show all the hoops games for men and women again next season....I am going to pitch some of my ideas about tv to the new AD at some point whenever we meet...Good game today for the lady Flames. There is not a large margin of error for this year's team but I think we will get it done again this year. It was great to see coach Jeri Wiley-Porter before the game....I got to open in prayer and Jim Wagner introduced me as former a Liberty basketball star. I looked at him like he was crazy and after the national anthem he said you didn't let me finish, I was gonna say liberty basketball star-TER! He got me good. Good to see Sportscritic in the house as usual as well as C lang and A Train and others. Lets begin the run for # 10 on Tuesday.

[absturgill]

Hey SCAR, yeah, I join the new technologies a little late. This week I'll finally get rid of the 8 track player. I haven't heard the name Brandon Pickett in years. I still remember him from WSET.

[thesportscritic]

According to collegerpi.com/women, our RPI after the win last night is 46. Now lets get things started on Tuesday Night.

[TIMSCAR20]

Brett, maybe we can get those pix you took at the Mystics game downloaded from last year! Welcome to the 21stCentury my friend

[PAmedic]

Lady Flames End Regular Season With Home Victory Over Highlanders

March 4, 2006 · Lynchburg, Va.

The Lady Flames closed out another perfect regular-season home record today as Liberty fended off a late run from Radford to pick up a 69-58 win, Saturday afternoon, at the Vines Center over their arch rival.

With the victory, the Lady Flames up their Big South record to 13-1 on the year (22-5 overall) and finish off the regular season with a perfect 12-0 home record, marking the third time in the last four years they have accomplished the feat and the fourth time overall in the history of the program.

The loss evens Radford’s conference record at 7-7 (14-13 overall) and drops the Highlanders into a mix of four teams that are fighting for the last two remaining home seeds in the upcoming Big South Women’s Basketball Championship.

The Highlanders’ tournament fate will be determined later on today after UNC Asheville and Coastal Carolina finish up their games. Liberty on the other hand has already clinched the top seed in the upcoming tournament as the nine-time defending Big South champions will begin their quest for an unprecedented 10-straigh-league title against eighth-seeded Charleston Southern on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Vines Center.

The game remained close over the first several minutes of action as a jumper by Sarah Stephens knotted the game at 7-7 with 14:57 left to play in the first half. Liberty attempted to break the game open with a 7-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Allyson Fasnacht just two minutes later.

But the Highlanders didn’t go away as Radford slowly chipped away at the Lady Flames’ advantage by scoring 10 out of the game’s next 14 points, trimming the lead back to one point, 18-17, on a trey by Corrie Fertitta at the 7:37 mark. Radford got within one point on two more occasions over the remainder of the half, but the two teams eventually settled on a three-point Liberty lead at the intermission, 28-25.

The Lady Flames opened the second half on a 10-3 run to push their lead to double digits, while a pair of free throws by Fasnacht gave Liberty’s its largest lead of the game at 13 points, 44-31, with 12:05 left in the contest.

Liberty maintained the 13-point lead over the next five minutes of play, but the Highlanders stepped up their defensive pressure and forced the Lady Flames to turn the ball over on three-straight possessions, allowing the visitors to cut the lead to six points, 48-42, on a jumper by Kelli Darden at the 6:08 mark.

Liberty regrouped and pushed its lead back to 11 points on an old fashion three-point play by Fasnacht with 4:40 left to play, while Radford rattled off five-straight points to cut the lead back to six points, 53-47, on another Darden jumper with 2:48 left in the contest.

But Moriah Frazee netted six of her team-high 15 points over the next 90 seconds to squelch the last Highlander run and seal the win for the Lady Flames.

Moriah Frazee’s 15 points came off of 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line, while adding a team-best six rebounds. Courtney Watkins followed with 11 points and four steals, while Roli-Ann Nikagbatse added 10 points, five rebounds and a team-best four assists.

The Highlanders were paced by Shavon Earp as the guard tied Frazee for scoring honors with 15 points, while Fertitta followed with 11 points, six boards, four assists and two steals. Stephens came off the bench to lead the team with seven rebounds and added six points and two blocked shots.

[PAmedic]

Moriah Frazee netted six of her team-high 15 points over the next 90 seconds to squelch the last Highlander run and seal the win for the Lady Flames.

good to see another frosh-Frazee step it up. Bodes well for the post season- this is a very well rounded team. Best of luck to the ladies

[PAmedic]

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

LU disposes of Radford; Big South tournament next

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
March 5, 2006

It was always on the tip of Carey Green's tongue.
Should he mention the possibility of Liberty running the table at home for the third time in four seasons? Or would that bit of info be better left out in pre-game talks?

"We want them to just go out and play," Green said after his Flames pulled the trick, beating Radford 69-58 Saturday at Vines Center to finish 12-0 at home. "It obviously could be a goal of ours, but we just haven't discussed it. We don't need that pressure."

The Flames hope to up that mark to 15-0 by the end of next week.

If that happens, they'll win the Big South tournament championship and advance to the NCAA tournament for the 10th straight year.

Liberty's players seemed to take Green's tack regarding LU's Vines Center home-court edge.

"I don't really think nothing of it," said Liberty guard Michelle Parker, who had four points and two assists off the bench. "We just come out and play."

Liberty (22-5, 13-1 Big South) never seemed in danger of losing Saturday, but the Flames weren't overwhelming, either. That's been the case all season, though, so no one seemed particularly alarmed.

Liberty led 28-25 at halftime and didn't look sharp. A lot of that had to do with Green juggling his lineups, trying to keep starters fresh for next week's tournament.

No Flame played more than 24 minutes and 13 saw action. Even walk-on Alex Bream played six minutes. Many played critical minutes, when the outcome was still in question.

"If we lost this game, it would not be the end of the world," Green said. "We wanted to rest some legs. I think our kids will be more rested, and I think that will be to our advantage on Tuesday. It'll pay dividends on down the road. It's just a good investment."

Radford (14-13, 7-7) pulled within 33-28 with 15:56 left after Serena White drilled one of her three 3-pointers. Liberty scored the next seven points to take command, going up 40-28 after a Roli-Ann Nikagbatse bucket.

Radford, which had a four-game win streak end, crept within six two more times but couldn't get any closer.

As has been the case all year, Liberty didn't win resoundingly, but the Flames found a way to close out an opponent.

That fact may as impressive as blowing people out of the gym like the Flames have done so often in the past.

"They've got a group of kids that know how to win and expect to win," Radford coach Jeri Porter said. "They are extremely well coached. I think coach Green does a tremendous job with the group that he has. They obviously have bought into his system and everything that he is teaching."

Moriah Frazee led the Flames with 15 points and six rebounds, scoring her points in two separate bunches. She showed a greater level of confidence with her shot and her moves in the post. While she's not as explosive as injured sister Megan, she's been nearly as effective lately.

"I think I've been focusing on taking it up a lot stronger and trying to clear out the defense a little more, because sometimes I tend to fade away from the basket instead of taking it in," Moriah said. "Even if there's contact, I need to push through it and finish."

Courtney Watkins added 11 points and continued her improvement at the free-throw line. After shooting 58.3 percent (21-for-36) in the season's first 22 games, she's hit all 15 she's attempted in the last five games.

Shavon Earp led Radford with 15 points.

Corrie Fertitta chipped in 11 points and sex rebounds.

[PAmedic]

ok, CHRIS- I gotta ask. What exactly are "sex rebounds"?

[Chris Lang]

Zoinks!! I hope the copy editor at least caught that for the print edition.


Not pegging it on him ... should have read it closer myself ... Freudian slip I guess.

[fsn32]

ok, CHRIS- I gotta ask. What exactly are "sex rebounds"?

Is that anything like make-up sex?

(SEINFELD REFERENCE)

[Flamesfanva]

Just had time to look at the ole News and Advance and it's in there

Too funny

[givemethemic]

I was reading it this morning and had to read twice... it was kinda funny, maybe it had to do with the fact that I had you on at halftime, sounds like a potential curse!!!!! But seriously you have written two great articles the last 2 games...