University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Liberty
Liberty Ends Asheville's Perfect Conference Start
01.04.2016 | Women's Basketball
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Liberty 71 – Asheville 53
Teams: Asheville (11-3, 4-1 BSC)
Liberty University (7-7, 4-1 BSC)
Location: The Vines Center/ Lynchburg, V.A.
Lynchburg, V.A. – The UNC Asheville Women's Basketball team suffered an 18-point loss on the road at Liberty to go 4-1 in Big South Conference play.
THE TURNING POINT
After a seven-point run in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs cut the Liberty lead to 11 points with 5:19 left to play in the game. The Flames responded with a run of their own to close out the game for an 18-point victory.
NOTABLES
-Liberty contained the Bulldogs to 53 points, this is the second lowest scoring game for Asheville this season. The Bulldogs only scored fewer points in their (67-49) loss to Clemson.
- Asheville's offense went 20-of-70 and shot 29 percent from the field as a team. The Bulldogs were led by Chatori Major who shot 46 percent from the field and collected 16 points. Ja'Da Brayboy also achieved double-digit scoring, chipping in 10 points and five rebounds.
- The Bulldogs scored 24 points off of 24 Liberty turnovers thanks to a late game full-court press that produced a short Asheville run. Major and Brayboy each picked off two steals to aid the Bulldog defense.
-Asheville out rebounded Liberty on the offensive glass 18 to five. The Bulldogs turned those offensive rebounds into 13 second chance points.
- The Flames' size proved to be a challenge for Asheville's inside game. Liberty collected 11 blocks on the night and contained Asheville to 20 points in the paint.
QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH BRENDA MOCK KIRKPATRICK
On Liberty- “Our team learned that when we play too much individual basketball against a great team and focus on outcome rather than process the result is not pretty. Defensively we didn't play gritty against offenses that we had prepared to defend and we let them take over the paint to easily. Liberty obviously shot the ball well, but on many of those possessions we were guarding incorrectly.”
On the mend- “Our defensive mentality cannot be dictated by whether we are making shots or not. It has to be consistent from possession to possession. Our kids and this staff are passionate and resilient. We need to be accountable for what went wrong, work hard to correct our mistakes and get ready for another tough road opponent.”
UP NEXT
-Following Monday night's game, the Bulldogs will continue a stretch of conference road games at Charleston Southern. The contest will be part of a doubleheader where the UNC Asheville Men's basketball will also face Charleston Southern immediately following the women's game.
