University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Liberty
Liberty Downs Asheville 61-44
01.09.2011 | Women's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Defending Big South Conference champion Liberty went on a 19-2 run to start the second as the Lady Flames went on to defeat UNC Asheville 61-44 at Justice Center Sunday afternoon.
The game was played a day earlier than scheduled to an incoming winter storm that was scheduled to hit the Asheville area sometime Sunday night and Monday morning.
The Flames (8-7, 3-0 BSC) were led by Avery Warley with a double-double as she scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Tolu Omotola and Emily Frazier finished with 10 points each
The Bulldogs (7-7, 0-3 BSC) lost for the third straight time. They were led in scoring by Breaira Barksdale with 10 points. She also had seven assists and six rebounds. Freshman Blake Cokes finished with a career-high nine points and eight rebounds.
Liberty trailed 29-27 at halftime but scored the first 10 points of the second half to race to a 37-29 lead. The Lady Flames pounded the ball inside and got baskets from Warley and Omotola to take the lead for good.
Asheville got a field goal from Barksdale to cut the lead to 37-31 but Liberty scored the next eight points to lead 45-31. The home team would get no closer than 14 points the rest of the game. However, one bright spot was the play of Cokes. The freshman forward did all her damage in the final 10 minutes of the game
The visitors outscored the Bulldogs 34-15 in the second half. Asheville shot 24 percent (5-of-21) from the field in the second half and committed 12 turnovers.
In the first half, Liberty used an early 11-0 run to race to an 18-7 lead. The Lady Flames used points from four different players during the run to build the early margin.
The Bulldogs slowly fought back as they got clutch three-point shots from Barksdale and Blaylock to slowly carve into the Liberty lead. Asheville went on a 12-2 run to sprint to a 25-22 lead on a Montgomery lay-up at the 4:20 mark. Blaylock had two long three-pointers in the run.
Asheville settled for a 29-27 halftime lead. Liberty scored just seven points in the final seven minutes of the half.
UNC Asheville plays next at Coastal Carolina Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Liberty travels to Longwood Friday night at 7 p.m.
