Liberty Finishes 1-1 in St. Pete Shootout

Liberty (3-9) participated in the St. Pete Shootout in Florida before Christmas break. The Lady Flames lost to UCF (10-2) in the first round but came back to beat Duquesne (5-6) in the consolation round.

Versus UCF

Photo Credit: Jamie Hall

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.- Liberty lost to UCF 53-45 in its first game of the St. Pete Shootout. The dominance by the Golden Knights was too tough for the Lady Flames to handle.

UCF started strong in the first half of the game scoring 10 out of 24 shots. Liberty came back with 5:29 to go in the second quarter. Ashtyn Baker scored a layup to cut the lead to 20-17. UCF responded by scoring six points to extend the lead to 26-17. The Lady Flames scored five points in the final seconds of the quarter, but it was not enough to take the lead. The Golden Knights held a four-point lead over the Lady Flames at halftime, 26-22.

Emily Lytle scored a free throw to bring Liberty back within three in the first minute of the second half, 26-23. Kay Kay Wright scored a free throw on the other end capping a 16-9 run made by UCF. With the Golden Knights leading 42-32 after the first ten minutes of the second half, Liberty turned up the heat to get back in the game. 

The Lady Flames went on a 6-0 run early in the fourth quarter to take a 42-38 lead. UCF continued to extend the lead making it tough for Liberty to make a comeback. The Golden Knights would go on to win their seventh consecutive game of the season. The Lady Flames held the Golden Knights well below their season scoring average of 70.5.

Liberty dropped to 2-9 on the season. Kierra Johnson-Graham and Melis Ucar combined for 18 points. Johnson-Graham also added seven rebounds to her game stats.

UCF improved to 10-1 on the season. Wright led the Golden Knights with 17 points. Kayla Thigpen finished the game with 16 points. Jamesha Paul led with a season-high six rebounds. Brittney Smith achieved a career-high three steals.

UCF finished the St. Pete Shootout with a 57-52 loss to No..15 Syracuse in the final round. The Golden Knights are now 10-2 overall on the season.

Liberty

Points: Kierra Johnson-Graham (9), Melis Ucar (9)

Rebounds: Kierra Johnson-Graham (7)

Assists: Ashtyn Baker (3), KK Barbour (3)

Steals: Ria Gulley (2), Ashtyn Baker (2)

Blocks: Amy West (1)

UCF

Points: Kay Kay Wright (17)

Rebounds: Jamesha Paul (6)

Assists: Sydnee McDonald (2), Jamesha Paul (2)

Steals: Brittney Smith (3)

Blocks: Nyala Shuler (1), Brittney Smith (1)

Player Achievements

UCF

•   Paul had a season-high six rebounds.
•   Smith tied a career-high three steals.

Versus Duquesne

Photo Credit: Jamie Hall

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.- Day 2 at the St. Pete Shootout was a huge thriller for Liberty as it upset Duquesne 55-51 in the consolation round. The Lady Flames also snapped a four-game losing streak.

Liberty jumped out to a 7-2 start in the first three minutes of the game. Emily Lytle led the way draining three consecutive shots from the three-point line to give the Lady Flames a 13-6 lead with 4:44 left in the first quarter. Duquesne, who was coming off an 87-71 first round loss to No. 15 Syracuse, got into its groove with a 10-4 run. The Dukes were able to make the game a one-point deficit at the end of the quarter, 17-16.

Duquesne took its first lead of the game at the 3:20 mark of the second quarter on a jumper made by Kadri-Ann Lass, 22-21. Lytle drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 24-24. Lytle fouled Duquesne’s Chassidy Omogrosso in the final minute of the game. She scored one out of two free throws to give the Dukes the one-point lead at the end of the quarter, 25-24.

Duquesne continued to lead until the final four minutes of the game. KK Barbour began the surge with a jumper to bring Liberty back in the lead, 52-51. From there, the Lady Flames prevented the Dukes from scoring the rest of the game. Lytle and Ashtyn Baker both earned trips to the free throw line. Lytle scored one out of two free throws while Baker scored both to seal a 55-51 win. Liberty earned its third win of the season at the buzzer.

With the victory over Duquesne, Liberty finished in third place in the St. Pete Shootout and improved to 3-9 on the season. Lytle finished as the leading scorer for the sixth time with 14 points. Barbour scored 11 points and grabbed nine boards. Ria Gulley finished with a career-high eight assists and seven rebounds. Baker led with two steals and set a career-high with four assists.

Duquesne dropped to 5-6 overall on the season. Lass led the Dukes with 21 points and seven rebounds. Omogrosso moved up to No. 8 for all-time scoring in the program after scoring seven points in the game.

Game Stat Leaders

Liberty

Points: Emily Lytle (14)

Rebounds: KK Barbour (9)

Assists: Ria Gulley (8)

Steals: Ashtyn Baker (2)

Blocks: Mya McMillian (1)

Duquesne

Points: Kadri-Ann Lass (21)

Rebounds: Kadri-Ann Lass (7)

Assists: Libby Bazelak (4)

Steals: Chassidy Omogrosso (1), Libby Bazelak (1), Conor Richardson (1)

Blocks: Libby Bazelak (1), Kadri-Ann Lass (1)

Player Achievements

Liberty

• Lytle was the leading scorer for the sixth time this season. She also tied a career-high with four three-pointers.
• Gulley set two career highs with eight assists and seven rebounds.
• Baker tied her season high with four assists.

Duquesne

• Omogrosso is now in eighth place on the program’s all-time scoring list.

Up Next

•  Liberty will return to action January 2 at 5 p.m.  in its finals non-conference home game against West Chester.