LYNCHBURG, Va. - Liberty held off Charleston Southern late from the free throw line as the Buccaneers fell in their Big South road opener on Saturday afternoon in the Vines Center, 51-40.

Shauntavia Dobson led a Bucs' bench effort that nearly gave CSU (5-3, 1-1) the upset over the Big South preseason favorite. The sophomore guard scored 14 of CSU's 28 points off the bench in the contest as the Bucs outscored the Flames 28-8 from the bench in nearly recording the win.

In the fourth period though, Liberty (3-5, 1-1) turned to the Big South Preseason Player of the Year in redshirt senior center Ashley Rininger. Rininger scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the period, including going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in sealing the victory.

The Bucs will take a week off for exams before returning to the court on the road on Monday, December 14th, in Statesboro, Ga. as CSU travels to Georgia Southern. Tipoff in the Hanner Fieldhouse is set for 7 p.m.

Dobson scored double-digits for the fourth time in the season to snap a recent cold spell. She went 5-of-10 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers and added a rebound to her totals.

Ke'Asia Jackson added eight points off the bench for the Bucs on 3-of-4 shooting, while Brianna Lakes had her second straight strong rebounding effort with nine of CSU's 29 boards in the contest.

Liberty opened the contest on a 7-0 run and held a 9-3 lead following a pair of Mikal Johnson free throws. The Bucs rallied back with six straight points from Jackson and Dobson, but Liberty answered with six of the final eight points of the period to take the 15-11 lead after one.

Dobson connected on her first three-pointer of the game at the 5:01 mark in the second period to pull the Bucs back to within one. Jackson connected on a pair of late free throws before the break to send the teams into the half tied, 25-25, in the Vines Center.

Twice in the third period Liberty extended their lead to five points with the first coming on a Rininger layup at the 5:50 mark giving the Flames the 33-28 advantage. After Dobson and LU's Jaymee Fisher-Davis exchanged layups, the Bucs scored the final four points of the period on an Alyssa Mann jump shot and a pair of Dobson free throws to go into the fourth trailing, 35-34.

The fourth period belonged to Rininger as the Liberty center scored the first six points of the period to extend the Liberty lead to 41-34. Rininger and Johnson combined to go a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 90 seconds to close out the contest.

Johnson finished in double-digits for the Flames with 10 points and added nine rebounds.