ROCK HILL SC—Big South Conference co-leader Liberty used its superior size advantage and depth to wear down the injury-riddled Winthrop women's team to claim a 59-42 victory Tuesday night in the Eagles final home game.
The loss was the fifth straight for Winthrop and dropped its record to 4-24 overall and 3-16 in the league while Liberty improved to 18-10 and remains tied with UNC Asheville for first place with a 15-4 Big South record.
Winthrop was hampered by a poor shooting performance that saw the Eagles shoot just 23.7 percent for the game (14-59). Liberty struggled in the first half with its shooting, but warmed up in the second half and finished the game at 36.8 percent (21-57). The Flames, who sport a roster with six players that stand 6-2 or taller, used that height advantage to out rebound the Eagles 52-35 on the night after Winthrop held a two-rebound advantage at halftime (23-21).
The Eagles led early in the game 4-2 when
Arianne Whitaker's put back an offensive rebound just over four minutes into the first quarter
. A 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave Liberty a 12-8 first quarter lead, and the flames extended the margin to a dozen points at 26-14 following back-to-back threes by Stephanie Patton within a span of 16 seconds.
A running jumper by Kilpatrick and a pair of free throws drew the Eagles within 10 at intermission at 28-18 as neither team shot well. Winthrop was 7 of 27 (26 pct.) while Liberty was 9 of 31 (29 pct.), but the Flames connected on 6 of 16 from behind the arc to give them the lead.
Winthrop got to within nine points with 5:37 left in the third quarter after Whitaker's three-point play that made the score 32-23, but Liberty opened up a 16-point lead with an 11-4 run that was keyed by a 8-foot bank shot and two free throws by Preseason Player of the Year Ashley Rininger to put the Flames ahead 43-27 with 2:12 left in the third period.
The Eagles refused to quit and clawed back to within 10 points in the fourth quarter after
Aliyah Kilpatrick drilled a 3-pointer to make it a 49-39 game with just over six minutes left. Liberty responded with an 8-0 run to give the Flames their largest lead of the game at 57-39.
Kilpatrick led Winthrop with 12 points to tie Rininger for game-high scoring honors while Whitaker tied her season high with 14 rebounds.
Winthrop will close out the regular season on Saturday when it travels to Coastal Carolina for a 2 p.m. contest.
