ROCK HILL, SC – Despite a strong first-half performance, the Winthrop women's basketball team fell 73-53 to the Liberty Flames Tuesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Liberty (18-9, 13-2) got off to a strong start, jumping out to an 11-2 lead in the first four minutes of the contest.  The Flames continued to lead by nine with just over three minutes left in the period before Winthrop went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to two.  The Flames hit at three in the final minute to lead 18-13 after the first quarter.

Winthrop (2-24, 1-14) played a strong second quarter, limiting Liberty to only seven points.  The Eagles slowly chipped away at the deficit and took its first lead of the game with 40 seconds left on a Ronata Rogers jumper.  Winthrop took a 26-25 lead into halftime.

The Flames dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Eagles 30-9, which included a 22-1 run during the third quarter.  Liberty led 55-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

The two sides played a fairly even final 10 minutes.  The Eagles were able to string enough buckets together to cut into the Liberty lead as the Flames took the win 73-53.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Courtney Hagaman led the Eagles with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field as she also went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.  Anika Riley added 11 points in limited minutes due to foul trouble.

Winthrop shot 48 percent in the first half including 56 percent in the second quarter but an eight percent shooting performance in the third quarter left the Eagles shooting 34 percent for the game.  Liberty outrebounded the Eagles 39-27 and turned 19 Winthrop turnovers into 22 points.

WHAT'S UP NEXT

The Eagles will head back out on the road for their next matchup.  Winthrop will travel to Buies Creek, NC to face the Campbell Camels on Saturday.