LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Jacksonville University women's basketball team made their first trip outside the state of Florida this season Saturday as they took on the ASUN Conference leader, Liberty University. Things stayed close in the first ten minutes but the Flames (11-3, 7-0) depth proved to much for the Dolphins (2-8, 0-5), as they took the first game of the weekend 76-48.
 
Liberty opened the contest with an 8-0 run that last nearly six minutes and was broken up by freshman Khalela Hayes, who banked home her first three-pointer of the season from the top of the arc to get Jacksonville on the board. After Ashtyn Baker hit a three for the Flames, the Dolphins went on an 8-0 run of their own, started by a Hayes layup and capped with back-to-back steal and scores by DeShari Graham to make it a two-point affair at 13-11. Liberty would connect on a three just before the end of the first quarter to push their lead back to five at 16-11.
 
The Flames would open things up in the second quarter and lead by 18 on two occasions. A scoreless streak by JU of close to four minutes saw the home team go ahead by 14 before back-to-back triples from Hayes and Johné Stewart bracketed a Liberty layup to make it a 10-point game. LU ended the half on an 8-2 run over the final three minutes to lead 38-20 at the intermission.
 
The second half was controlled by Liberty, as they outscored Jacksonville 40-26 over the final 20 minutes of action. Jacksonville forced seven of their 12 turnovers for the game in the third and fourth quarters and shot 33% after halftime.
 
Graham finished the game with 13 points, four steals and three assists, while Hayes also turned in a 13-point effort that saw her finish just shy of a double-double with eight rebounds. All nine players that saw minutes in the game for JU found their way into the scoring column.
 
The two teams will be square off again from Liberty Arena once more tomorrow, with tip-off scheduled for 2 PM.