FARMVILLE, Va. – Kyndal Skersick and Raven Williams combined for 37 points for a depleted Longwood roster, but Liberty escaped Willett Hall with a 65-60 victory Tuesday night.

The win clinches the top seed for the Lady Flames in the VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Championship from March 3-8 in Conway, S.C., and moves Liberty's record to 20-6 and 13-1 in Big South play. The Lancers fall to 3-24 on the season and 3-15 in conference play.

"We had an outstanding effort from everyone tonight and followed the game plan perfectly," said Longwood head coach Bill Reinson. "Liberty is the best team in the league and we battled them for 40 minutes. In the end, they just made a few more plays than we did."

In her second game back from injury, Skersick led Longwood with a season-best 21 points on 6-of-8 performance from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. It marked the second time this season that Skersick has recorded four or more three pointers in a game, as she hit five treys at Presbyterian.

"It was nice to have Kyndal back," Reinson said. "She is a terrific scorer and really balances our line up."

The performance from Skersick was just two points shy of her career high.

Williams also turned in another strong performance, finishing with 16 points and a 7-of-7 mark from the free throw line while leading the Lancers with six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Longwood led first-place Liberty for more than 30 minutes of the game and outshot Liberty from the floor and from beyond the arc. The Lancers finished 20-51 (.392) and held Liberty to a 21-55 (.382) performance. However, Liberty had the upper hand from the free throw line, finishing the night 19-22 (.864) from the charity stripe compared to a 12-of-13 (.923) performance from the Lancers.

A Longwood three pointer from Brenna Robbins gave the Lancers a 36-25 lead with 17:28 remaining to match its largest lead of the game. The 11-point margin was the largest deficit the Lady Flames had faced since falling in a Dec. 21 contest at against then-No. 1 South Carolina.  

The Lady Flames wouldn't take their first lead of the night until a Simone Brown layup with 6:03 remaining and extended its lead to five points with just more than three minutes of the game.

The teams traded a pair of baskets, before Williams hit a layup to get Longwood within three points again with 26 seconds remaining. But Emily Frazier sealed the win for Liberty with two made free throws on Liberty's next possession.

Frazier led Liberty with 13 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Brown scored eight of her 12 points from the free-throw stripe. Sedalia Ellis, Ashley Rininger and Jasmine Gardner each finished with eight points.

A season-low seven players saw action for Longwood – who has fought injuries and illnesses throughout the season.

The game was moved to 5 p.m. from its originally scheduled 7 p.m. start due to Monday's snowfall from winter storm Octavia and poor road conditions in the Central Virginia area.  

The Lancers will play in Willett Hall for the final time this season Saturday, Feb. 17 against Presbyterian. Longwood and the Blue Hose are scheduled to tip at 2 p.m.

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