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| Photo Credit: Jessie Rogers |
LYNCHBURG, Va.- Liberty won its second ASUN Game and first ASUN Game home
game against North Florida 69-53.
The Ospreys jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first four
minutes of the game. Liberty’s Emily Lytle drained a 3-point shot to spark a
7-0 run and cut the score to a one-point deficit, 11-10. Bridgette Rettstatt scored
a layup to give the Lady Flames their first lead with 2:07 left in the first
quarter, 12-11. North Florida’s Jazz Bond scored a layup on the other end to
bring the Ospreys back to a 13-12 lead. Bond fouled Lytle behind the arc with
13 seconds left in the quarter. The sophomore from Memphis scored all three
free throws to bring it back to a one-point game at the end of the quarter.
North Florida held on to a 16-15 lead against Liberty.
Amy West came off the bench for Liberty and scored a jumper
to start the second quarter, 17-16. North Florida extended its lead to 21-17
before KK Barbour scored four points to tie the game at 21-21. Ria Gulley
nailed a jumper with 2:47 left to bring the Lady Flames back to a 23-21 lead. North
Florida’s Janesha Green stole the ball and followed up with a layup to tie the
game at 23-23 with 1:30 left in the quarter. Liberty freshman Melat Sissay
drained a 3-pointer to give the Lady Flames a 26-23 lead. The Lady Flames led
the Ospreys 28-25 at the end of the second quarter.
Liberty held North Florida to 28 points in the second half.
The Lady Flames combined for 41 points to obtain their second consecutive
victory over an ASUN opponent.
Barbour and Rettstatt both combined for 30 points. Barbour
had a huge night despite struggling in the first half. The senior from
Charlottesville reached to 700 points and 500 rebounds in her career. Rettstatt
scored in double-figures for the fifth consecutive time in ASUN games. Lytle had
14 points with nine of those points from three-point range. This is the sixth
time she has scored three or more triples in a game this season. Gulley started
in place of Ashtyn Baker who was out with an ankle injury. The San Antonio
native finished the game with 12 points along with a career-high eight rebounds
and two blocks. Gulley also had five assists and it was the fifth time she has
recorded five or more assists in a game. Tatyana Crowder set a season high in
rebounds after grabbing six boards in the game. Liberty has now won two ASUN games
in a row. The Lady Flames move to 2-3 in ASUN play and 6-12 overall on the
season.
North Florida drops to 2-3 in ASUN play and 7-9 overall on the
season. Bond led the Ospreys with 16 points and 10 rebounds making it her
second career double-double since transferring from South Florida. Green also
finished in double-figures with 10 points. Ty Purifoy finished in double-figures
in assists for the first time as a college player after recording 10 in the
game.
Game Stat Leaders
Liberty
Points: KK Barbour (15), Bridgette Rettstatt (15)
Rebounds: KK Barbour (11)
Assists: Ria Gulley (5)
Steals: KK Barbour (1)
Blocks: Ria Gulley (2)
North Florida
Points: Jazz Bond (16)
Rebounds: Jazz Bound (10)
Assists: Ty Purifoy (10)
Steals: Janesha Green (2)
Player Achievements
Liberty
- Barbour had a double-double that included a season-high 15-points and 11 rebounds.
- Barbour also earned her 700th career point and 500th career rebound.
- Rettstatt finished in double-figures for the fifth consecutive time since the beginning of ASUN play.
- Lytle scored three triples in the game making it the sixth time she has scored 3 or more triples in a game this season.
- Gulley recorded a career high eight rebounds and two blocks.
- Gulley has recorded 5 or more assists in five games this season.
- Crowder finished with a season high six rebounds.
North Florida
- Bond garnered her second career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
- Purifoy recorded double-figures in assists for the first time with 10 in the game.
Game Quotes
Coach Green
“If we win, it’s going to be by unity of the team, playing
together. Because we’re missing key pieces but not missing heart at all. These
young ladies are playing with heart. Some of them are not playing good at
certain times of the game. If they continue to play hard, good things happen”.
On KK’s 500th career rebound
“To have her here and reaching that milestone of 500
rebounds and you know I love rebounders. She stayed in there to get 500 and
that’s exceptional we’re certainly glad that she’s here. You just reflect on
how she finished the year last year and walked into the Big South Tournament
and was awarded the player of the game or MVP of the tournament. This shows you
her ability and her contributions of quality and had a lot of impact and
congratulations. She’s done a great job”.
KK Barbour
“Every win that we can get is a great win. We’ve struggled a
little bit at the beginning. But I think we’re starting to play how our team is
supposed to play. And yeah there are things that we need to work on obviously.
We’re not perfect but I think will continue to grow and work on those things
and get even better from here”.
On upcoming rematch at Jacksonville
“Playing Jacksonville here and losing to them, they kind of
took away our home court. But I think that we can get it back from them. We
just didn’t play like ourselves. We didn’t have really have a good game as a
team. I think that will change once we go back down there. We’re gradually
getting better each game, so I guess Jacksonville has to be ready to play us
against at their place”.
Emily Lytle
“Our record was 0-3 and it kind of puts you down but you can’t
have the mindset of we’re going to stay like this. You got to keep pushing forward
because you know you could win 2-0 and then keep going”.
Up Next
Liberty will head back to Florida for a rematch
at Jacksonville on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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