WBB Game Day: Ohio
11/23/2020 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Day Central Links:
Live Audio (Ohio Sports Network Broadcast)
Live Stats
Liberty Game Notes
Liberty Women's Basketball Instagram
Liberty Women's Basketball Twitter
Liberty Women's Basketball Facebook
Ohio Women's Basketball Webpage
ASUN Women's Basketball Webpage
Game Time:
Wednesday - 1 p.m.
The Starting 5 - Liberty's Top Storylines
• Liberty (0-0, 0-0 ASUN) will tip off its 46th season of basketball on Wednesday with a visit to Ohio (0-0, 0-0 MAC).
• The Lady Flames and Bobcats, who were each picked to finish second in their respective conference, will be meeting for the first time.
• The Lady Flames will hope to pick up where they left off last season. Liberty won eight consecutive games to close out the 2019-20 campaign. The run was punctuated by a 90-87 overtime victory at North Alabama in the ASUN semifinals. The Lady Flames were then named co-champions after the title game at FGCU was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Redshirt senior Emily Lytle, who scored the game-winning three-point play against North Alabama, is one of two Lady Flames on the preseason All-ASUN squad, along with senior point guard Ashtyn Baker.
• Senior Bridgette Rettstatt (Galena) will get to play a game in her home state of Ohio for the first time in her collegiate career. She is the Lady Flames' top returning rebounder (7.0 rpg) and was a second team All-ASUN performer in 2018-19.
Notes and Anecdotes - Liberty vs. Ohio
• Wednesday's game will mark the first-ever hardwood meeting between Liberty and Ohio. The Bobcats are one of four first-time opponents on the Lady Flames' 2020-21 schedule, along with Carson-Newman, Memphis and Bellarmine.
• Liberty (ASUN) and Ohio (MAC) were both picked to finish second in their respective conference in 2020-21. Both teams boast two preseason all-conference players, including the Lady Flames' duo of Ashtyn Baker and Emily Lytle and the Bobcats' CeCe Hooks and Erica Johnson.
• Liberty (20-11) and Ohio (19-11) posted nearly identical 2019-20 records, and both teams won conference tournament games on March 11 before the remainder of the tournaments were cancelled. The Bobcats finished 2019-20 at No. 80 in RPI, while the Lady Flames were No. 97.
• The Lady Flames and Bobcats will both have quick turnarounds following Wednesday before they return to the court against ACC foes. Ohio will play host to Notre Dame on Friday, while Liberty will visit Virginia Tech Saturday.
• Ohio Head Coach Bob Boldon was head coach at Lambuth in 2008-09, during the same time Liberty Football Head Coach Hugh Freeze was serving as Lambuth's head football coach. Boldon also spent one year (2001-02) as an assistant coach at Gannon. Lady Flames assistant Andy Bloodworth joined Gannon's coaching staff the following year.
Liberty in Season Openers
• Liberty is 22-23 all-time in season openers, including 8-16 away from Lynchburg and 10-11 under Carey Green.
• Liberty is just 3-5 in its last eight lid-lifters, but the Lady Flames have won three of their last four season openers that were played on the road.
• The Lady Flames are tipping off their season with a road game for the fourth consecutive year. They won at Old Dominion in 2017-18, lost at Bethune-Cookman in 2018-19 and won at Norfolk State last season.
