WBB Game Day: UTRGV
12/18/2021 12:03:26 AM | Women's Basketball
Live Video (ESPN+)
Live Audio (Facebook Live)
Liberty Women’s Basketball Instagram
Liberty Women’s Basketball Twitter
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Tournament Host UTRGV Women’s Basketball Webpage
ASUN Women’s Basketball Webpage
Game Time:
Saturday – 2 p.m. Eastern
TV Coverage:
ESPN+
Radio Coverage:
Liberty Flames Sports Network – Radio
Facebook Live
Play-By-Play Broadcaster:Â Jamie Hall
The Starting 5 – Liberty’s Top Storylines
• Riding a seven-game winning streak, Liberty (10-1) will seek its second 2-0 tournament showing of the season when it meets South Padre Island Classic host UTRGV (4-6) on Saturday.
• The Lady Flames are off to their best 11-game start since the 2007-08 squad also opened at 10-1. The 2007-08 team was the last Liberty squad to go unbeaten at two regular-season tournaments.
• Then known as Texas-Pan American, UTRGV won the only previous meeting between the two schools on Dec. 8, 2000. Liberty is 2-0 all-time against WAC opponents, including Friday's 76-61 triumph over Grand Canyon.
• "Super senior" Bridgette Rettstatt scored 19 of her season-high 24 points during the second half on Friday. That leaves her one point shy of becoming the 19th 1,000-point scorer in program history.
• Mya Berkman paces the Lady Flames in points (13.5 ppg) and rebounds (7.3 rpg) while ranking No. 3 nationally in field goal percentage (67.0). She is playing in her home state of Texas for the first time in her collegiate career this weekend.
Notes and Anecdotes – Liberty vs. UTRGV
• Liberty is facing UTRGV for the first time since Texas-Pan American and Texas-Brownsville merged in 2015.
• UTRGV inherited the athletic records of Texas-Pan American, which defeated Liberty 65-59 at Iowa State's Pella Corporation Cyclone Classic on Dec. 8, 2000 in Ames, Iowa.
• Liberty is 4-0 away from Lynchburg this season, while the Vaqueros are 4-2 at home. However, the South Padre Island Convention Center is the third different venue at which UTRGV has hosted games this season (also the UTRGV Fieldhouse and Bert Ogden Arena).
• The Lady Flames will seek their first-ever win over UTRGV on Saturday. Liberty has already picked up its inaugural victories over Bowling Green, Grand Canyon and Ohio this season.
• Liberty will look to improve upon its 2-8 all-time record versus Texas foes and defeat a Lone Star State squad for the first time since a 70-61 win over Houston on Nov. 24, 2007.
• UTRGV was voted 10th of 13 teams in the WAC preseason poll by both the coaches and media members.
• Both teams will have a 12-day break from competition following Saturday's matinee before returning to action on Dec. 30.
Liberty vs. WAC
• Liberty is 2-0 all-time versus WAC opponents, thanks to a 68-44 victory at Kansas City on Dec. 21, 2019 in the Roo Holiday Classic and Friday's 76-61 triumph over Grand Canyon.
• The Lady Flames are facing back-to-back WAC foes this week, in Grand Canyon (Friday) and UTRGV (Saturday).
• Liberty will become familiar with current WAC squads New Mexico State and Sam Houston State, when all three schools join Conference USA in time for the 2023-24 season.
Tournament Time
• Liberty went 2-0 at the Navy Classic (Nov. 27-28), its first regular-season tournament this season. The Lady Flames will now look to go unbeaten at two regular-season tournaments in the same season for the first time since 2007-08 (National City Xavier Invitational and UNLV Lady Rebel Christmas Classic).
• This is Liberty’s first December tournament since Dec. 20-21, 2019. That event, the Roo Holiday Classic, was also hosted by a WAC team (Kansas City), and the Lady Flames went 2-0 with victories over Bradley and Kansas City.
• The Lady Flames are playing a tournament in Texas for the first time since the Rae & Craig Blair Memorial Tournament, Dec. 19-20, 2016 in San Antonio. Liberty fell to Central Arkansas and host UTSA.
