By Rob Potter
LIBERTY — February 9, 2010 — The Liberty Lady Indians held an 8-5 lead over the visiting Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats at the end of the first quarter of Thursday night’s non-league basketball game.
But Livingston Manor responded by outscoring the Lady Indians 17 to 6 in the second quarter to take a 22-14 edge at halftime.
The Lady Wildcats maintained their advantage in the third and fourth periods on their way to a 50-39 victory.
Senior guard Alyssa Corbett made a 3-point shot and junior center Gwen Fuller made a turnaround shot on the block under the basket to give Liberty (4-10) a 5-1 lead in the first three minutes of the contest.
However, Manor (9-4) took the lead for good early in the second quarter. With 7:15 to go, sophomore forward Monay Allen scored inside the lane to cut Liberty’s advantage to 8-7. Fifteen seconds later, junior guard Marissa Diescher stole the ball near halfcourt and drove to the basket for two to give the Lady Wildcats a 9-8 lead.
In the third period, the Lady Indians twice reduced the Manor lead to four points. At the 6:07 mark, Victoria Baum drove down the lane to make the score 24-20. Then with 3:09 remaining Justice Dingevan swished a 15-foot jump shot to make it a 28-24 game.
After the Lady Wildcats pushed their lead back to seven points (31-24) to begin the fourth quarter, Fuller scored with 7:46 displayed on the scoreboard clock to reduce Liberty’s deficit to five.
Diescher swished jump shots from just inside the 3-point arc on the next two Manor possessions to extend the Lady Wildcats’ lead to nine at 35-26.
Manor took a double-digit advantage at 38-27 with 5:40 left when sophomore guard Maggi Calo made a jump shot.
Diescher led the Lady Wildcats with a game-high 27 points. Allen and junior guard Angela Zayas each added six points and Calo had five points.
“It was a very competitive game,” Manor Coach Kevin Clifford said. “They [Liberty] played a very good game. They really made us work hard to get shots.”
He also praised his team.
“We did a good job on defense tonight,” Clifford said.
Fuller finished the game with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Olivia Baum added nine rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Lady Indians and teammate Shay Baker grabbed 14 rebounds.
“I’m very pleased with our effort tonight, we played great,” Liberty Coach Ryan Baldock said. “Gwen [Fuller] had a big game for us tonight. I thought that Olivia Baum played really well.
“We are moving in the right direction,” he added. “We are making great strides forward.”
Baldock also noted that Diescher had a very good game.
“She’s a great player,” he said. “We did our best to stop her and she still scored 27 points. She also does a great job of helping her teammates by making good passes so they can score baskets.”