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Erica Williams drives
Tim Cowie/Winthropphotos.com
61
Winthrop WUW 2-14, 1-6 BSC
77
Winner Liberty LIBERTY 8-8, 5-2 BSC
Winthrop WUW
2-14, 1-6 BSC
61
Final
77
Liberty LIBERTY
8-8, 5-2 BSC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Winthrop WUW 12 17 16 16 61
Liberty LIBERTY 26 16 21 14 77

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Liberty Connects On Season-High 11 Threes To Defeat Winthropn 77-61

Williams Leads All Scorers With 22 Points

ROCK HILL, SC—The three-point shot has been a nightmare this season for the Winthrop women's basketball team and it came back to haunt the Eagles once again as they lost 77-61 to Liberty, which connected on a season-high 11 field goals from beyond the arc.
 
The loss was the eighth straight for Winthrop and drops the Eagles to 2-14 overall and 1-6 in the Big South Conference.  Liberty, which extended its winning streak to 24 straight victories over Winthrop at the Vines Center, improves to 8-8 and 5-2.
 
The Flames' first four field goals were from long range as Liberty jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead in the opening 3:07 of the game.  Liberty actually shot better from 3-point land (50 percent on 11 of 22) than it did from inside the arc (43 percent on 16 of 37). 
 
Liberty's perimeter shooting performance overshadowed the combined effort of Winthrop juniors Erica Williams and Aliyah Kilpatrick.  Williams scored a game-high 22 points, including 10 of the last 13 in the game, while Kilpatrick had an all-around game with 18 points, six assists and six steals, which will increase her nationally ranked average.
 
While Liberty scored 33 of its points from behind the arc, Winthrop went 3 for 10.  The 24-point difference proved hard for the Eagles to overcome.
 
Winthrop trailed 26-12 after the first quarter. The deficit increased to 18 in the second quarter after Liberty's leading scorer Mickayla Sanders' layup made it a 36-18 score with 4:01 left before intermission. Sanders finished the day with 14 points while 6-6 center Catherine Kearney had 13 and Sadalia Ellis finished with 12, all coming on the three.
 
But the Eagles refused to fold as they took advantage of eight straight empty possessions by Liberty.  Nuba Jackson began a 10-0 with her first 3-pointer of the year.  Following a free throw by Ezinne Mbamalu, Williams finished the run with three straight buckets to draw Winthrop to within eight points at 36-28 with 1:26 left in the quarter.  That would be as close as the Eagles would come as Liberty closed out the first half with six straight to take a 42-28 lead.
 
Liberty took its largest lead of the game at 63-39 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter as the Flames made four more 3-pointers.  The lead was 63-45 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Winthrop will return home on Tuesday, Jan. 19, to host High Point at 7 p.m.
 
 
 
 
 
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