Liberty’s girls basketball team closed out the regular season with a double victory, defeating Nazareth, 48-38, on Feb. 3 at Liberty and clinching the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Northampton Division championship.

The Hurricanes pulled no punches on the Blue Eagles and implemented their full-court press while putting up 17 points in the first quarter and holding Nazareth to four.

“We didn’t play helter-skelter. We weren’t rushing anything. We played under control,” said Liberty assistant coach Kye Adams, who filled in for an ailing Jarrett Carnes. “I’m pretty sure we had less turnovers too. We were locked-in together the whole time.”

Senior center Shawna Beatty had the first points for Liberty on Senior Night.

Hurricane guard Ava Kopetskie (20 points) scored on a one-handed layup off a steal, and teammate Tula Sobrinski (8 points) broke Nazareth’s press with a layup off a turnover.

“We caused so many turnovers,” said Liberty assistant coach Sherri McDonald. “They couldn’t break our press, and you could see, once we’d get a tipped ball, they sparked, and we’re hitting threes.”

McDonald is also a teacher and in the absence of Coach Carnes, used her free period to look at Nazareth game film.

“We had to stop 21 (Renee Wells). She’s amazing. And number 1 (Karly Leszcynski) is really good,” McDonald said. “Number 13 (Lexi Davis) was a little bit off tonight, which helped us, so we knew who to key-in on. To be honest, the girls did it. Ava called the plays out there.”

Liberty guard Anijah Davis (16 points) drained two 3-pointers in the second quarter, and the ‘Canes led, 28-17, at halftime.

The Blue Eagles went on an 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter, pulled within six points to open the fourth quarter, and were on their way to making it a four-point game after they forced a turnover and Leszcynski went past midcourt with the ball.

Liberty then came up with a steal with no foul called, and Davis’s 3-pointer took the wind out of Nazareth’s sails.

“That was leadership right there, and you know what? She’s so sick,” said McDonald of Davis. “She was sick all day and didn’t know if she could do it. She pushed. She really stepped up. She’s the star tonight on offense and defense, for sure.”

Now, the Hurricanes are looking forward to a couple days’ rest before gearing up for EPC playoffs, scheduled to begin on Feb. 7.