HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Sam Houston made some noise in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Championships on Wednesday at the Propst Arena before top-seeded Liberty ended its run with a 78-48 victory.
The eighth-seeded Bearkats picked up their first win at the tournament in the two brief seasons they have been in the league when they sent Jax State home with a 55-53 victory in the opening round Wednesday.
Sam Houston stayed with the Flames for the first two and a half quarters despite a solid start for Liberty, which grabbed a seven-point lead minutes into the first quarter.
The Kats began to chip away when
Fanta Kone made a pair of free throws to trim the lead to 11-7. The game was close the rest of the half as a jumper by
Whitney Dunn, and two more free throws by Kone made it a two-point game.
Nyla Inmon got a jumper to fall to cap an 11-5 run by the Kats as they battled back to tie it at 16. The teams traded baskets from there, but the Flames were able to get a little cushion heading into the break with a 32-24 advantage.
Deborah Ogayemi drained a jumper to pull the Bearkats within six, but Liberty followed with a 3. Ogayemi wasn't done, however, and was fouled on layup which she converted into an old fashion three-point play to make it a six-point game once again.
The Flames went on a 13-3 run to begin to pull away, up 48-32 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Sydney Kemp finally ended a scoring drought for Sam Houston with a pair of free throws, but the damage had been done.
Dunn led the Bearkats with 16 points, and Ogayemi just missed a double-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Inmon added eight points and eight boards, and Kone finished with six points.
