LYNCHBURG, VA-- Winthrop has won two straight after wins over Longwood and Coastal Carolina, but enters a venue that hasn't been very kind over the years as it takes on Big South defending champion Liberty Monday night at 7 p.m.
The Vines Center has been a tough place for the Lady Eagles to play as they are 1-22 all-time there. The only win came on Feb. 24, 1996 (55-46). The 2005-06 team under Bud Childers has been the only squad since the 1996 team to lose by single digits. That came in the 2006 Big South Conference Tournament semi-finals as Winthrop fell 53-45.
Winthrop looks to redeem itself from the previous meeting when it managed just 33 points on 28 percent shooting with Dequesha McClanahan, Kaitlyn Rubino and Lacey Lyons failing to combine for a single point. Since that weekend when the team struggled scoring and was battling as the flu spread through some of the players, Winthrop had some time to rest and get the ship righted.
The team is back to .500 on the year at 11-11 and a victory tonight would give the team a winning record for the first time since Jan. 8 when the team was 7-6 after opening up Big South play with a win over Charleston Southern.
Winthrop seems to be more comfortable away from the Winthrop Coliseum as it averages 57.2 points on the road compared to 50.0 points at home. The team shoots 38 percent away from home and 33 percent at home.
One of the biggest differences in home and away games are the numbers of McClanahan.
The freshman guard averages 19.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 4.2 steals away from home. She shoots 44 percent from the floor and behind the arc. At home she averages just 9.1 points and 1.6 steals while shooting 25 percent from the floor and 12 percent from three.
If Winthrop is going to pull off a win, it will need more help from its three-point shooters Lacey Lyons and Mary Hathaway, who have both struggled from three lately. Lyons is 4-for-24 over her last seven games while Hathaway is 1-for-23 in the last eight and a half games.
With the team struggling from three, Winthrop has picked up its scoring in the paint and the emergence of TaQuoia Hammick as of late has helped. Hammick is averaging 8.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and shooting 48 percent from the floor in the last five games with four starts. Winthrop scored 40 of its 64 points at Coastal Carolina in the paint and 84 total in the last three games.
Winthrop faces a Liberty team that is riding a six-game win streak since losing its only game of the year at home on Jan. 17 against Radford.
After winning big at Winthrop on Jan. 29, Liberty has since battled in three tough games with a 12-point win at Gardner-Webb, a one point victory over High Point at home and most recently defeating Gardner-Webb 56-51 on Saturday.
Redshirt-sophomore Devon Brown leads the team in scoring at 13.6 points and is shooting 37 percent from the field. Despite missing seven games, Brown is second on the team in free throw attempts at 78 and is shooting 69 percent.
Sophomore Jelena Antic is second on the team in scoring at 10.7 points and is also second in rebounding at 6.2 per game. Junior Avery Warley is averaging 10.5 points and 10.1 rebounds while shooting 57 percent from the field and also has a team best 21 blocks. In the last three games, Warley has recorded double-doubles and averaged 13.3 points and 15.7 rebounds while shooting 50 percent.
Since conference play began, Liberty has won three of its four home games by five points or less.
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE STATS
