CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern was unable to overcome a halftime deficit as the Buccaneers fell at home to Liberty on Thursday night inside the Buc Dome in Big South play, dropping a 92-69 decision to the Flames in their first matchup of the 2014 calendar year.

Four different CSU players scored in double-digits, led by a season-high 18 points from Alyssa Mann as Charleston Souhern threatened to bring the game back to within single digits on four different occasions in the second half, but Ashley Rininger paced three Liberty players with double-doubles on the night with 27 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Flames to the Big South win.

"[Liberty] is a tall, tall basketball team, so they pose some matchup problems for us," head coach Fred Applin had to say following the game. "They were able to get some second chance points and scored probably close to 40 points in the paint tonight. But we competed, and that is what we wanted. We kept fighting and cutting into that lead. We missed some open shots towards the end there, but I'm proud of the team tonight."

Charleston Southern falls to 4-8, 1-3 overall in conference play on the season with the loss as the Buccaneers shot 34.4 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from behind the arc in the game. CSU connected on 11 three-pointers in the contest led by four from Anicia Dotson as the Bucs broke their previous season high of 10 three-pointers set on three different occasions.

"The main thing we must continue to work on is boxing out and rebounding," Applin continued. "We've got to get better at that. That's a really good team we competed against today. We've got to take that attitude and passion and work every day and get better."

Mann shot 6-for-10 from the floor to pace the CSU offense on the game, adding three steals in a career high 36 minutes in the loss. Dotson continued her strong play in Big South action on the year with 17 rebounds, while Bratcher (16 points) and Fowler (10 points) were both in double-digits for CSU on the night.

"Something we can take away from this game is our confidence level," Applin closed out with. "Our bench played well tonight. They came in a really contributed. The freshman have been great. They are willing to learn and do whatever we tell them to do."

Liberty improves to 7-6, 3-1 overall on the year in Big South play as the Flames held the 54-23 rebounding edge in the game, paced by 13 boards by Catherine Kearney. Kearney completed the double-double with 10 points, while Katelyn Adams joined both of her teammates with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Flames shot 47.8 percent from the floor as a team. Liberty added eight blocked shots to the night as well.

Charleston Southern's first three baskets of the game came from behind the arc as Dotson, Fowler and Bratcher all connected from distance to spur the Buccaneers offense out the gates. However, a 20-6 run by Liberty gave the Flames an early 23-9 lead following a Miller three-pointer at the 12:44 mark in the first half.

Charleston Southern rattled off four points in a row as Bratcher drove in for a layup and hit the ensuing free throw attempt to put the score at 23-13 a little over a minute later. Liberty responded with six points in a row capped by a Rininger layup to stretch the advantage back out as the Buccaneers were unable to get back within single digits the remainder of the half.

Liberty went up by as many as 17 in the first half, led by 13 points by Rininger, but Mann answered with 13 points of her own over the first 20 minutes for the Buccaneers and Dotson connected on a pair of free throws over the final 10 seconds as the teams went into the halftime break with CSU trailing 48-33.

Fowler tallied five straight points early in the second half to cut the Liberty lead down to twelve, but the Flames responded with a 10-2 run to take a 20-point advantage. Liberty's Reagan Miller hit a three and Rininger scored from in close again to cap the surge and put the Flames on top, 60-40, at the 15:42 mark.

With the Liberty lead standing at 63-43, Dotson jumpstarted an 8-0 run to get CSU back into the game. Dotson connected on a three from the left wing and then hit one from the other wing off a Fowler drive and kick. Mann secured a steal and layup in between as the Bucs closed the gap to 63-51 with 12:21 remaining.

Threes by Jarvis and Dotson kept CSU around as the second half progressed, with Dotson's trey making the score 74-62 with 6:25 left in the contest as the senior forward drained the open jumper from the top of the key. Dotson's triple, however, was the closest the Buccaneers were able to get the rest of the way as Liberty put the game away with Adams scored five points over the final six minutes to push Liberty to the 92-69 final score.

The Buccaneers remain at home as CSU welcomes Longwood to the Buc Dome this weekend in a rematch of last year's Big South tournament first round matchup. Tipoff between the Bucs and the Lancers on Saturday afternoon is set for 2 p.m.