LU guards make their point

HIGH POINT, N.C. — Task one on a scouting report on Liberty’s women’s basketball team: Contest everything Devon Brown does.

Task two: Attack forward Avery Warley, body her up in the post and try to get her into foul trouble.

High Point accomplished both of these things in Saturday’s Big South Tournament semifinal matchup. And it didn’t matter.

The Flames’ point-guard duo of Amber Mays and Dymond Morgan aren’t known as major scoring threats, but they know when to pick their spots. Saturday was one of those spots. They both set career highs in scoring and combined for 34 points as Liberty beat the Panthers 73-55 to advance to the tournament championship game for the 13th time in the last 14 years.

“They were a different team tonight,” High Point coach Tooey Loy said. “They’re a good team, and when (Morgan and Mays) are scoring and you’ve got to worry about them, it makes them tough to guard.”

The Flames shot 50 percent and won comfortably despite Warley’s four points in 15 foul-plagued minutes and Brown’s 5-for-16 shooting. (Brown still scored 17 points, going 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.)

And it was all because of the play of Liberty’s two athletic, shifty guards. Mays set the tone from the opening tip, taking the tap from Warley and driving to the basket to score the game’s first points four seconds in. She went 8-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line and scored 21 points. Normally a slashing scorer, Mays even hit a 3-pointer. She also had three assists, four steals and a stunning amount of enthusiasm, which at times got her in trouble.

When High Point’s Shamia Brown picked up her fifth foul trying to grab a ball from Mays, the Liberty guard taunted Brown while she was still down on the floor, drawing an automatic technical foul. Afterward, she was remorseful.

“I want to apologize. That’s not what we do at Liberty,” she said. “I wasn’t in control of my emotions.”

For the most part, Mays’ energy was positive. With her team up 20 in the final three minutes, she was still clapping her hands, digging in defensively and moving step-for-step with her assignment, HPU’s Jurica Hargraves. Her and Morgan both played inspired defense until the end, a reminder of their true strengths.

But, yes, it seems like the two can score a bit when necessary.

“I don’t usually score a lot,” said Morgan, who had 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting. “But when I become a threat and I finish my thoughts, they’re like, ‘Oh, wow, she can score.’”

The victory set up a third meeting with Big South regular-season champion Gardner-Webb, the only conference team to beat the Flames this season. The title game tips at 2 p.m. today and will go down as one of the most anticipated games in Big South history. It’s the first time two Big South teams with 25-plus victories will meet in a game.

The Bulldogs (28-3) beat Coastal Carolina in Saturday’s other semifinal thanks to 20 points and 10 rebounds from Big South player of the year Margaret Roundtree. The game features an interesting contrast in styles. Gardner-Webb wants to run and gun and pick its spots to run half-court sets. Liberty wants to pound away physically.

“If Liberty’s going to play it WWF-style and be extremely physical — and I don’t think there’s anybody as physical as them …,” Gardner-Webb coach Rick Reeves said. “I mean this as a compliment, not as a criticism. We’ve played North Carolina, Houston, East Carolina, Purdue, and Liberty by far is more physical than any of them.

“I would like to see Brittany Griner (the 6-foot-8 Baylor standout) and Warley play. I would pay to see that game. That would be a battle.”

The Flames slowed things down in the second meeting with the Bulldogs, but Gardner-Webb showed an ability to execute in the half court. The Bulldogs are the only team in Liberty’s last 114 games to shoot 50 percent against the Flames.

Said Mays: “I think we’re stronger than them, both inside and outside. They don’t manage their time that well, so as long was we can force quick shots, I think it’ll come out on our behalf.”

HIGH POINT (17-14) — Dodd 2-6 1-2 5, Maier 2-6 0-1 5, Samuels 2-3 0-0 4, Dean 4-8 0-0 8, Fields 3-6 2-3 8, Reynolds 3-7 0-0 7, Hargraves 3-7 2-2 10, Pfahl 0-0 0-0 0, Whitt 0-0 0-0 0, Cromartie 0-0 0-2 0, S. Brown 4-9 0-0 8, Tarver 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 5-10 55.

LIBERTY (26-5) — Beecher 1-4 2-4 4, Warley 2-4 0-0 4, D. Brown 5-16 6-7 17, Mays 8-9 4-5 21, McLeod 1-3 1-2 3, Washington 1-2 0-0 2, Antic 3-5 0-0 7, Dale 1-4 09-0 2, Morgan 5-7 2-5 13, Coy 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 27-54 15-25 73.

Halftime — Liberty 33-32. 3-point goals — HPU 4-10 (Hargraves 2-5, Reynolds 1-2, Maier 1-2, Dodd 0-1), Liberty 4-10 (Mays 1-1, Antic 1-1, Morgan 1-1, Brown 1-6, Washington 0-1). Rebounds — HPU 28 (Samuels 8), Liberty 39 (Beecher, Brown, Antic 7). Assists — HPU 11 (Dodd 5), Liberty 8 (Mays 3). Blocked shots — HPU 0, Liberty 5 (Brown 2). Steals — HPU 5 (Dodd 3), Liberty 12 (Mays 4). Turnovers — HPU 15 (Fields 4), Liberty 13 (Mays 3). Total fouls — HPU 22, Liberty 15. Fouled out — S. Brown. Technical foul — Mays. A — 752.