Monday, January 25, 2010

Tuesday dribble - Liberty, Hampton prevail

Monday's games

Liberty 57, Coastal Carolina 38: Your typical Liberty Big South rout? Not exactly. The Chanticleers led by five at halftime and by 10 early in the second half. But it was typical Lady Flames defense that eventually ground Coastal's attack to a virtual halt - the Chanticleers scored just two points over the final 7:14. Liberty's offense wasn't a whole lot better, but the Lady Flames ability to play volleyball with their own missed shots made up for it. The Lady Flames (14-4, 5-1 Big South) finished with as many offensive rebounds as the Chanticleers managed total rebounds. It all added up to Liberty's 32nd straight victory over Coastal and a sweep of their two-game "Beach trip" through South Carolina.

Charleston Southern 67, Radford 61: Meanwhile, the Highlanders (5-13, 4-3 Big South) went 0 for 2 in South Carolina after struggling with their shot (33 percent from the field, 1 of 6 from 3-point range) and spending most of the night in chase mode against the Buccaneers.

South Carolina State 74, Norfolk State 73: Heartbreaker for the Spartans, who fall to a Whitney Wiley layup with five-tenths of a second remaining. The loss spoiled a veritable offensive explosion for the Spartans (3-12, 0-6 MEAC), who finished with five players in double figures led by Raychele Payne (23 points), who apparently saves her best performances for S.C. State. Two of Payne's layups came in the final 1:02, and each one gave NSU a one-point lead. S.C. State's Wiley had the final answer, though, so despite yet another competitive effort, the Spartans must stomach their 27th straight MEAC road loss since a 69-59 win at Maryland-Eastern Shore on Jan. 3, 2007.

Hampton 67, Florida A&M 54: Quanneisha Perry strikes again. A couple of hours after being named MEAC Player of the Week, the 5-10 junior went for 19 points and 19 rebounds as the Lady Pirates dispatched the slumping Lady Rattlers. Not sure what's gotten into Perry of late. For much of this season she's been merely competent, a lefty with skills who did a lot of nice things that didn't add up to that much in the final box. But for the past five games, she's simply been the best player in the conference. "I just really realized how terrible I was playing and how I wasn't being fair to myself or my teammates," the new, improved Perry said.

Tuesday's games

Winthrop (6-12) at Longwood (4-16), 7 p.m.
Don't be misled by the Lancers' record. They're actually 3-3 at home this season; they just haven't gotten to play there since Dec. 28. Assuming they haven't been beaten down by the succession of road games, the Lancers should be quite competitive with a Winthrop club that has dropped its last five games. Longwood 62, Winthrop 60

Richmond (14-5, 3-1 Atlantic 1o) at Charlotte (11-8, 4-1 Atlantic 10), 9 p.m.
Still trying to get to the bottom of the Spiders' no-show against Dayton Saturday; we hope to have more on it later. One would think that the Spiders would be jacked up to avenge their loss to the 49ers in last year's Atlantic 10 tournament final. But after Richmond's performance Saturday, we're not sure what to think. The game will start at 9 p.m. as it is being televised by CBS College Sports. Charlotte 72, Richmond 62

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