Liberty comes from behind to win title

By: BY BENJAMIN CATES | For The Register & Bee Published: March 12, 2012 Updated: March 12, 2012 - 9:20 AM

HIGH POINT, N.C. You dont usually think of a team learning something from a win. That phrase is typically reserved for squads on the losing side.

But after top-seeded Liberty defeated host High Point, 81-73, to capture its 14th Big South tournament championship and earn another automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the Lady Flames walked away knowing a little more about themselves.

With senior center Avery Warley limited to just 23 minutes of action after being hampered by foul trouble early, Liberty had to look elsewhere for a spark. Enter junior guard Devon Brown.

Luckily for Liberty, Brown really enjoys playing in the Millis Center. She scored a career-high 29 points here in a win over High Point in 2010.

Brown (24 points, 14 rebounds) took grit and determination to another level on Sunday.

Devon Brown is as good as they get, Liberty coach Carey Green said. This was an outstanding game. She wanted to win and she wanted to go to the Big Dance.

Freshman guard Reagan Miller added 15 points and eight assists and Warely (14 points, 12 rebounds) still found a way to get her 15th double-double of the season by adding eight points when Liberty needed them in a critical second-half stretch.

While they cruised to the finals with big wins over UNC-Ashville and Charleston Southern, Liberty struggled to overcome a scrappy, physical High Point squad that looked to knock off them off for the second time this year. The two teams previously split a pair of meetings this season.

Liberty found it difficult to contain junior guard Erin Reynolds as the Panthers squeaked by the Lady Flames by four points in January. A month later, the Liberty needed double-digit scoring from five players to down the Panthers.

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Liberty comes from behind to win title