March 22, 2005
By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - As the final seconds wound down on Liberty's second
straight stunning upset, the Rev. Jerry Falwell broke into a smile as the fans
around him yelled, "Sweet 16! Sweet 16!"
One upset simply wasn't enough for the never-say-surrender Flames, who
followed their first NCAA tournament victory by shocking DePaul 88-79 on
Tuesday night.
Katie Feenstra had 29 points and 13 rebounds, and Liberty weathered a 16-0
run in the second half to become only the second 13th seed to advance to the
round of 16 - duplicating Texas A&M's feat in 1994.
"I'm so excited," Liberty coach Carey Green said. "They had
determination, they were strong, they were courageous."
The Flames were 0-8 in NCAA tournament play before beating fourth-seeded
Penn State 78-70 on Sunday. For an encore, they beat fifth-seeded DePaul,
limiting the nation's highest-scoring team to 32-percent shooting.
Falwell, the school's chancellor, watched in a front-row seat at midcourt.
Falwell and the school band were absent from the opening-round game, but both
made the trip north this time to see if the Flames could pull off another
upset.
And that's exactly what happened.
Liberty (26-6) advanced to the Chattanooga Regional to face top-seeded
Louisiana State, a 76-43 winner over Arizona on Tuesday night in Knoxville,
Tenn.
Khara Smith scored 27 points, and Jenni Dant had 26 for fifth-seeded DePaul
(26-5). Allie Quigley, the second-leading scorer on the team, had four on
1-for-15 shooting.
The Blue Demons launched 89 shots, in part because they collected 33
offensive rebounds. But they simply couldn't put the ball in the basket.
"In our fast-break situations we did not convert," said Dant, who missed
14 of 23 field-goal tries. "I was trying to go too fast. I was too aggressive,
too eager."
Liberty led 35-33 at halftime, the first time this season that DePaul
trailed at the break. After the Blue Demons tied it early in the second half,
Daina Staugaitiene scored five points and Feenstra had four in a 9-0 run that
made it 47-38.
It was 53-43 before Dant had two 3-pointers and a three-point play in a 16-0
run that took only 1:45, thanks to five straight Liberty turnovers. But the
Flames wouldn't quit.
"You just have to stay strong, focused and keep your head in the game,"
said Kristal Tharp, who added 16 points for Liberty. "We knew it was within
our reach, and we weren't going to lay down and die. You can't fear failure."
A runner in the lane by Staugaitiene sparked a 9-0 spurt that put Liberty
ahead to stay, and Flames extended the run to 21-3 for a 74-62 lead with 4
minutes left.
"Every time you fight back there's a tendency to relax," DePaul coach Doug
Bruno said. "I really thought we had them on the ropes."
After scoring 16 points in less than 2 minutes, the Blue Demons were limited
to one basket over the next 8 minutes.
The 6-foot-8 Feenstra played only 8 minutes in the first half because of
foul trouble, but finished 11-for-14 from the floor and 7-for-7 at the line.
"I can't do anything without my teammates," Feenstra said. "If you've
seen me dribble the ball, it's pathetic. They're wrong if they think this is a
one-person team."
Feenstra spent the last 7:55 of the first half on the bench with two fouls,
but DePaul failed to take advantage, in part because of 1-for-13 shooting from
3-point range.
