[Sly Fox]

Hey, a Winthrop basketball team coming to Vines that we can knock around! Well, considering our loss of Megan this is far from the slam dunk we would've expected before the season when the Eagles of Winthrop rolls into our house at 2pm:



Winthrop Official Site
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Overall Record: 8-7
Big South Record: 2-0

WU is off to a 2-0 Big South record for the first time in school history and they are riding a 5-game win streak. I wouldn't count on them making it 3-0.


#5 Iva Milejov
Senior 5' 8" Guard
Averaging 9 Pts & 67 Assists


#25 Tiffany Rodd
6' 0" Freshman Forward
Averaging 12.4 Pts


#40 Ashley Fann
5' 11" Freshman Forward
Averaging 11.8 Pts & 6.7 Rebs

[WinthropEagleFan]

I hate to see that Megan is out...injury is the most unfair part of sports. It'll be interesting to see how both teams play today...Will LU rally behind their injured teammate and come out fired up? Or will they struggle to find their rhythm? Will Winthrop be able to play well enough to make it matter?

[thesportscritic]

Hopefully we will be fired up today and rally around Megan. We will see what will happen. I will be very dissappointed if we weren't fired up today.

[WinthropEagleFan]

Liberty is up 28-24 at the half. The Flames had a double-digit lead a couple of times, but Winthrop did a good job of clawing back in the last few minutes to make it close going into the half.

[SuperJon]

The Vines is empty. Yea, I know I can be partially blamed but I didn't wake up til 12:30 and had to clean up and junk. I'm watchin on tv some though.

[givemethemic]

The crowd is great.... well over 1,500 people...

[WinthropEagleFan]

Congrats on the win...LU did a great job of playing with more composure down the stretch and hit some big shots...

[PAmedic]

Lady Flames Down Lady Eagles In Battle Of Conference Unbeatens

January 21, 2006 · Lynchburg, Va.

In a game of runs, it was a 14-2 run late in the game that helped Liberty remain undefeated in Big South action as the Lady Flames downed previously unbeaten Winthrop, 56-44, Saturday afternoon, at the Vines Center.

With the victory, the Lady Flames raise their record to 3-0 in Big South action and 11-4 overall, while the Lady Eagles fall to 2-1 in league play and 8-8 overall.

The game remained close over the opening minutes of action as a three-pointer by Tiffany Rodd pulled Winthrop back with two points, 8-6, at the 16:08 mark. But the Lady Flames put together a 10-0 run to give Liberty a 12-point lead after a pair of Roli-Ann Nikagbatse (So., G/F, Berlin, Germany) free throws with 12:31 left to play in the opening half.

Liberty’s lead hovered around the same margin over the next six-plus minutes as the Lady Flames led by 12 points after a pair of free throws by Courtney Watkins (So., G, Bristol, Tenn.) with 5:24 left to play in the opening period.

However, the Lady Flames would hit just two more field goals over the remainder of the period, while Winthrop strung together a 12-4 run to pull within four points at the intermission, 28-24.

Neither team could find the basket over the first four minutes of the second half as the score remained the same until Ashley Carey nailed a three-pointer at the 15:30 mark to trim the Lady Flames’ lead to one point, 38-37.

The Lady Flames quickly responded as Moriah Frazee (Fr., G, Xenia, Ohio) converted on 1-of-2 free throw attempts, while Karolina Piotrkiewicz (Jr., F, Calais, France) put one back for two and Watkins nailed a trey to give Liberty a seven-point lead, 34-27, with 13:04 left to play.

The Lady Eagles responded as Ashley Fann took a feed from Iva Milevoj on the next possession and scored on a lay-up, while Milevoj knocked down a three-pointer at the 10:51 mark to pull Winthrop within two, 34-32.

The two teams traded baskets back and forth over the next several minutes with a lay-up by Milevoj pulling Winthrop within three points, 40-37, at the 7:05 mark. However, the Lady Flames stepped up their defensive pressure and allowed Winthrop just three more field goals over the remainder of the contest, while outscoring the visitors 14-2 to seal the victory.

Liberty, who was playing without the services of the conference’s leading scoring in Megan Frazee (18.5 points and 9.8 rebounds) due to a knee injury, was paced by a career day from Piotrkiewicz as she recorded a career-best 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, while pulling down a career-high 16 rebounds.

Watkins followed with 11 points, which was aided by 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range and 10 points by Nikagbatse, who led the team with four assists.

Winthrop was led by Fann’s 16 points as the forward finished the game 7-of-17 from the field, while tying for team-high rebounding honors with seven rebounds. Milevoy followed with 10 points and six assists.

The Lady Flames will begin a four-game road swing on Wednesday when they travel down to High Point to face the Panthers at 7 p.m., while Winthrop will return to action on Monday when they travel to Radford to face the Highlanders at 7 p.m. in the Dedmon Center.

[Stevev]

Winthrop seems much improved this year vs last year by looking at their results. Lost a couple close games vs major conference teams Clemson and Charlotte. Nice run at the end of the game. Petrokevich with some good numbers with 16 points and 15 boards. Now it is time to hit the road. Hopefully gotten over not having Megan in there. Can't be looking ahead to the Radford game.

[ATrain]

I doubt the Lady Flames are too concerned with Radford when High Point is up next...there are plenty on that team who remember the loss in the Vines Center last year and know that the Panthers are not going to be a cupcake.

[BJWilliams]

One observation I will make...Even though Fann had 16 and Milevoj had 10, we made em put up a lot of shots to get those points and they had to work for the looks they got.

[givemethemic]

I agree about High Point on Wednesday night first road conference game of the year and first road game in almost 4 weeks. KP is really in the zone right now... the turning point you ask? Was after the Virginia Tech game when she only played 9 minutes ever since then KP's numbers are right at 11 points and 10 boards a game. Courtney has really stepped it up too getting double figures for the last two games.. I think that the team will be fine espically if KP, Courtney, Roli and Allyson continue to play well. They are the leaders on this team and have got to continue to take ownership of it. Also it was great to see Jamie back on the floor after missing the last 5 games...

[Chris Lang]

Jamie Feagin added some nice energy minutes yesterday. Did a nice job of posting up and backing down a defender for a bucket and played some nice defense. She and Michelle Parker and Rachel Hammond give LU threats to penetrate and dish or just penetrate and score. There were some nerves yesterday, I think, when things weren't going well on offense. There was this general feel of "who are we going to turn to to bail us out?" Then the "energy" players like Roli and KP took over. I'll be covering the game at High Point and am very interested to see how the team responds to the challenge.

[ATrain]

I know Carey is anxious to get game film of the High Point/UNCA game, since UNCA really limited Katie O'Dell's baskets. It will be an interesting match-up, just too bad I've gotta miss b/c of church and accountability with one of my SLDs (ah...the joys of being on leadership teams).

[givemethemic]

Well I will be with the team all week A-train and can fill you in.....that's why I am not on leadership teams.....Not really but they just wouldn't let me be on them.

[WinthropEagleFan]

Winthrop just beat Radford in the Dedmon Center, 65-60...At 3-1 w/ two road wins, I think I'm finally becoming convinced that this WU team might be pretty good this year (as in upper half of the conference)....

[Sly Fox]

We're convinced already by what we saw the other day.

[fsn32]

Bud's a heck of a coach... I remember him having some great teams back at Louisville. I didn't figure it would take him long but doing it in two years is amazing.

[WinthropEagleFan]

Bud's a heck of a coach... I remember him having some great teams back at Louisville. I didn't figure it would take him long but doing it in two years is amazing.

Especially considering how bad his team was last year...and they were bad by Winthrop women's basketball standards, and that is saying alot.

[PAmedic]

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

Flames upend Eagles

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
January 22, 2006

Roli-Ann Nikagbatse doesn't even have to stand upright to be a contributor for Liberty's women's basketball team.
In fact, lying prone on the floor at Vines Center, Nikagbatse was at her best Saturday against Winthrop. Because when she looked up, she saw the utter frustration cross the face of Eagles guard Tiffany Rodd. Seconds before, Rodd steamrolled Nikagbatse, using a forearm shiver to level the Flames' sophomore guard.

A whistle blew, a moving screen was signaled and Winthrop coach Bud Childers went nuts, understandable since he was screened from the play and couldn't see Rodd throw the forearm.

On the next possession, Courtney Watkins shattered Winthrop's hopes with a 3-pointer, pushing the Flames' lead to seven. Liberty ultimately won 56-44.

Without injured freshman Megan Frazee, this is the way the Flames will have to win games: grit, determination, defense and rebounding.

Put a check in all four columns Saturday.

"I like to do the dirty work," Nikagbatse said. "You know, clean up on defense and get some energy points, go in where it hurts, take a screen and get bumped around. Stuff like that."

The Flames started hot, possibly using the adrenaline surge prompted by Frazee's injury. She's out for the season with a torn ACL, and this was LU's first game without her.

Liberty led 20-9 after Molly Frazee scored a basket with 11:06 left in the first half. But the Flames (11-4, 3-0 Big South) scored eight more first-half points and went scoreless for the first 6:07 of the second half. During one stretch, Liberty went 8:38 without scoring.

Winthrop (8-8, 2-1) crept within 28-27 on Ashley Carey's 3-pointer before the Flames finally woke up. Moriah Frazee hit a free throw and missed the second, but Karolina Piotrkiewicz (who set career highs with 15 points and 16 rebounds) snagged the rebound and scored on a putback, giving LU a 31-27 lead with 13:51 left.

"I think we got a little out of control there when they made their big run," said Watkins, who scored 11 points and hit 3 of 5 3-pointers. "We got a little timid, wondering what we were going to do."

No call proved bigger than the moving screen called on Rodd. Later, Nikagbatse showed more willingness to scrap. With LU up 48-39, Nikagbatse drove into the paint, causing four Winthrop defenders to collapse on her. She deftly dished the ball to a wide-open Watkins, who hit a back-breaking 3 with 2:52 left to push Liberty's lead to 51-39.

"We've been working on penetrating and dishing," Nikagbatse said. "You just penetrate into the zone, and when they collapse, you've got an open shot on the wing every time."

Liberty got a much needed jolt from Watkins' outside shooting. In Monday's win against Coastal Carolina, she missed all four of her 3-point attempts, leaving them all short. She hit her first look Saturday and her confidence grew.

"Any shooter, if you get that first shot, you're going to end up feeling pretty good," Watkins said.

The Flames found out quickly that Winthrop wasn't the same team that went 2-26 and lost 79-26 here last season. With an infusion of freshman talent like Ashley Fann, who led WU with 16 points, Winthrop had won five straight games coming in. The Eagles struggled down the stretch though and made mistakes, turning the ball over on three straight possessions in the final five minutes.

"Coach Childers is an excellent coach," Liberty coach Carey Green said. "Last year, he had to roll with the punches with the cards he was dealt. ? The skill level just wasn't there."