FARMVILLE, Va. – Liberty forward Keyen Green secured her second double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the visiting Flames past the Longwood women's basketball team 63-51 Tuesday night inside Willett Hall.
Green finished as the lone player to finish in double figures for a Liberty squad that shot .426 from the field. She helped the Flames overcome a season-high 17 points from
Dayna Rouse, a 12-point night from
Kristina Antonenko and a nine point, four assist game from
Micaela Ellis that saw her move to ninth all-time in Longwood program history in career assists
In a game in which the Flames never had more than a 12 point lead, Longwood cut the deficit to five points with four minutes to play in the fourth quarter following two of 12 points from Antonenko. However, a 5-0 run over the next 1:08 gave Liberty a 10 point lead once again, as Longwood was unable to draw closer than seven points for the remainder of the game.
"I was very proud of our effort this evening," said Longwood head coach
Bill Reinson. "Our defense has gotten progressively better over the past few weeks and that was evident again tonight. Liberty is a very tough matchup for us because of their size advantage, but I thought we were ready to compete."
With the win, Liberty (11-8, 6-1 Big South) moves into a first-place tie with High Point, while Longwood (3-15, 1-6 Big South) drops its fifth straight game.
Ellis, who needed to two assists to pass Keva Small on Longwood's all-time assist charts, secured the honor early in the second half when she found Rouse for an easy layup. The game marked her 10th contest of the season with at least three assists, as she added nine points and a steal in 40 minutes while her four assists led to eight Longwood points.
Meanwhile, Rouse, who scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half, finished 6-of-8 from the field and added three rebounds in 28 minutes on the court. The performance from the Pittsburgh, Pa. product is the latest in an offensive outburst that has seen her average 8.4 points in her last eight contests.
"We were much better offensively tonight," Reinson said. "We took care of the basketball and did a better job of finishing plays."
Antonenko, who along with Ellis is one of two players on the Longwood roster to start each game this season, finished the night with 12 points on 5-of-14 from the floor to secure her fourth game of the season in double figures.
"If we keep progressing and competing like we have, we're going to cause some problems for teams the second time through the conference schedule," Reinson said.
Longwood will return to the road for a pair of games to wrap up the first half of conference play Saturday, Jan. 27 at Campbell before heading to Rock Hill, S.C. Tuesday, Jan. 30 to face Winthrop. The game against the Camels is set for a 2 p.m. opening tip in Buies Creek, N.C.
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