In a matchup of the top two teams in the ASUN, the Liberty Lady Flames fell to the No. 24 FGCU Eagles, 69-61, on Thursday night at Liberty Arena from a cold and wet Lynchburg, Virginia. With the win, FGCU improves to 25-2 overall and 14-1 in conference play as they clinch the No. 1 overall seed in next week’s ASUN Tournament and home court throughout.
Liberty falls to 25-3 overall and 13-2 in the ASUN and sees their 10-game win streak come to an end. The Lady Flames will be the No. 2 seed from the East Division in the conference tournament. Liberty will get a first round bye and play the winner of the 3-seed from the West (Eastern Kentucky) and the 6-seed from the East (Kennesaw State or North Florida) on Sunday, March 6 at Liberty Arena.
FGCU continues their dominance over the Lady Flames, moving to 10-0 all-time against Liberty who has also lost 36 consecutive meetings against top 25 foes.
The Eagles got a big boost from the return of their top player, Kierstan Bell, who played in her first game since Jan. 19. She underwent surgery for a torn meniscus the final week of January and returned at the front end of the expected 4-6 week timetable. Bell was understandably rusty in the opening minutes of the game, making just two of her first seven field goals.
As the game wore on, Bell got her game legs back and would finish the game with a high point total of 23 points. She would make six of her final 11 shot attempts while finishing the game with seven rebounds in 32 minutes played. Her three pointer with just over a minute remaining in the contest, proved to be the dagger, pushing FGCU ahead by six points.
Liberty had their opportunities late. The Lady Flames trailed FGCU by two points at the end of each of the first three quarters. The Eagles maintained their lead throughout the final stanza, but Liberty missed five of six from the free throw line in the final 4:40. Alyssa Iverson, who made the only free throw for the Lady Flames in the closing minutes, missed her second attempt that would have given Liberty the lead with 2:46 to play. Liberty was just three for nine at the free throw line in the fourth quarter and only converted 15 of 26 free throws (57.7%) for the game.
Rettstatt would pace the Flames with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Iverson added 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Mya Berkman, who was straddled with foul trouble throughout and only played 23 minutes, finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
The Lady Flames conclude the regular season on Saturday at 4 pm against Kennesaw State. Liberty and the Owls will meet in the KSU Convocation Center in Kennesaw, Georgia.
