CONWAY, S.C. –The Coastal Carolina University women’s basketball team (13-7, 3-5 Big South) led at halftime and were within one point with under three minutes remaining, but Liberty University (16-5, 7-1 Big South) controlled the boards in the last two minutes and hung on to defeat the Lady Chants 58-51 Feb. 11 in Conway, S.C.

Coastal jumped out to a 4-1 lead and led 6-5 with 16:01 left on a jumper from senior Kim Turner (West Memphis, Ark./Hiwassee C.C.). Liberty scored the next four points and led by as much as five points on two separate occasions. Coastal, however, would not let the Lady Flames out of their sights and when senior Amber Rose (Bloomington Springs, Tenn./Upperman) hit on a four-point play at 4:11, Coastal was within one (24-23). After a jumper by Liberty’s Jamie Feagin, junior Alisha Dill (Johnson City, Tenn./Science Hill) nailed a three to tie the game at 26. Karolina Piotrkiewicz’s layup at 2:19 gave Liberty a 28-26 lead, but the Lady Chants scored the last four points and when sophomore Joanna Pekonen (Lappeenranta, Finland/Lafayette) hit a jumper with five seconds left, Coastal would take a 30-28 halftime lead.

Rose led the Lady Chants with nine first-half points, going 3-of-6 from the field. She also scored her 500th career point in the first period. Dill added seven points, while Turner had four rebounds. For Liberty, Piotrkiewicz and Roli-Ann Nikagbatse scored six points apiece. Coastal was 3-of-6 in the first half from three-point range and shot 36.7 percent from the field.

Coastal came out firing after the halftime break and led 36-32 at the 15:50 mark on a Dill layup. Liberty then went on a 9-0 run that was capped by a three from Allyson Fasnacht. Liberty would get the lead to 10 (50-40) on a Molly Frazee jumper at 7:36, but Coastal would score the next nine points and when junior Vanessa Laug (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) hit two free throws with 4:25 left, Liberty’s lead had dwindled to one (50-49). Piotrkiewicz made it 52:49 at 2:36 with a layup and Fasnacht scored the next four points, including two free throws with 35 seconds left. Dill hit a layup to cut the lead to five, but Liberty grabbed the offensive rebound on two straight one-and-one’s to give the Lady Flames its seven Big South victory of the year.

Dill led all scorers with 16 points, while Turner added 12. Turner also had six rebounds and three blocked shots. Liberty was led by Fasnacht’s 12 points, while Piotrkiewicz had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Coastal shot 34.5 percent from the field and were 4-of-10 from three-point range. Liberty shot 47.2 percent and had 44 points in the paint. They also outrebounded the Lady Chants 48-26.

Coastal hosts Radford Monday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., while Liberty is at Charleston Southern the same night at 7 p.m.

NOTES: Rose becomes the third Lady Chants to score 500 career points this season, joining Dill and Turner... The win was the 25th straight by Liberty over Coastal. The Lady Flames lead the all-time series 34-7... Liberty was just 7-of-20 from the free-throw line and 1-of-7 from three-point range.