After losing to Jacksonville St., the Lady Flames’ NCAA Tournament hopes diminished. Now however, Liberty is moving onto the second round in the WNIT after beating Campbell 50-44.
Liberty did not earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the Lady Flames did earn a WNIT bid. The WNIT is the second-most prestigious postseason tournament, one level below the NCAA Tournament.
This was the first time Liberty had ever hosted a WNIT game. Previously, the Lady Flames were 0-2 on the road, losing to Charlotte and Villanova.
Liberty’s opponent, Campbell, won the Big South regular season title, but lost embarrassingly to Longwood in the conference championship game. The last time the two teams played was in 2018, when Liberty was still a member of the Big South.
Campbell took the lead within a minute with a three-pointer from Brittany Staves. Mya Berkman was able to get Liberty on the board with a layup before Staves scored again to make it 5-2 Campbell.
After this, the game slowed significantly. Both teams struggled to make shots, and Campbell eventually took a 7-6 lead into the second quarter. Combined, the Lady Flames and the Camels went 6-24 from the field in the first.
The second quarter was much more exciting. Taya Bolden put Campbell up by three before Emma Hess nailed a three to tie the game at 9. Campbell was able to jump out to a six-point lead again, but the Flames tracked the Camels down, eventually taking the lead 21-19.
Liberty kept its lead going into half, with Kennedi Williams scoring as time expired to put the Lady Flames up 25-20.
The Lady Flames kept up their momentum in the third, draining shots and stopping Campbell’s offense. Dee Brown’s three-pointer put Liberty up by 11, the Lady Flames largest lead of the game.
Campbell clamped down however, scoring 10 straight points to trim Liberty’s lead to just one going into the fourth.
The Camels retook the lead with Launa Serranho’s jump shot put the Camels ahead 35-34, before Bridgette Rettstatt put Liberty back on top.
Liberty kept making it shots, and with 4:52 to go in the game, Rettstatt sank another three-pointer, giving Liberty a 44-35 lead.
Campbell had to resort to fouling, and while the Camels got within six, they never got closer. Liberty held on, winning 50-44.
Head Coach Carey Green was pleased with his team’s result.
“I expected this to be a very difficult game…” Green said. “Not surprised it would come down to the end of the game and our execution. I’m very pleased of these to young ladies… (as Berkman and Rettstatt entered) both of them gave us a double double, and without that we’d probably be in trouble.”
The Lady Flames now advance to the second round of the WNIT where they will face either Murray State or Vanderbilt. A venue, time and date have not been determined yet.
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