WBB Game Day: Alabama

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (2-4) will close out its stay at the Betty Chancellor Classic on Sunday with its first matchup against Alabama (6-1) in 21 years.
The Lady Flames are looking to snap a four-game losing streak. Liberty led No. 15 Louisville by six heading to the fourth quarter on Saturday before falling 72-63.
Liberty is 0-1 all-time against the Crimson Tide, part of its current 19-game losing streak vs. SEC opponents. The Lady Flames are 1-20 all-time when facing SEC members, including 0-18 under Carey Green.
Center Bella Smuda paced the Lady Flames on Saturday vs. Louisville with a season-high 17 points to go along with nine rebounds and a season-best three blocked shots. Sunday will mark Smuda's 100th appearance as a Lady Flame, and she is 15 rebounds away from 500 for her career.
Preseason All-CUSA selection Emma Hess leads the Lady Flames in scoring through six games with 13.2 ppg. She has knocked down a team-high 15 triples at a 45.5 percent clip. Hess, who has tallied 107 career three-pointers, moved into Liberty's all-time top 10 list for that category on Saturday.

Notes and Anecdotes

Both Liberty and Alabama are aiming to bounce back from Saturday setbacks. The Lady Flames look to avoid their first five-game losing streak since Nov. 8-24, 2019.
Alabama's 6-1 record gives Liberty's opponents a combined mark of 18-4 entering their matchups with the Lady Flames so far this season.
The only previous meeting between Alabama and Liberty took place 21 years ago, when current Lady Flames assistant Katie (Feenstra) Mattera was a sophomore and Carey Green was in his fourth year as head coach.
Sunday's matinee will be the Lady Flames' fifth of seven games in Texas this season. Liberty only played in the Lone Star State eight times during its first 48 seasons of women's basketball.
Alabama is coming off a 20-11 season which culminated in an NCAA Tournament appearance. This will be the fourth of Liberty's nine meetings with a 2023 NCAA qualifier this season, including its third in as many days. The Lady Flames are 0-3 vs. 2023 NCAA Tournament teams in 2023-24.
Liberty's Carey Green is one win away from 550 for his career, almost exactly two years removed from posting victory No. 500 (Nov. 28, 2021 vs. Bowling Green). Green has coached the Lady Flames to a 49-17 record since that day.

Liberty vs. SEC

Liberty is 1-20 all-time against SEC opponents, having lost its last 19 meetings with conference foes.
This will be Liberty's first SEC matchup since Dec. 11, 2022, when the Lady Flames fell 88-39 at No. 1 South Carolina. Liberty will play host to Tennessee on New Year's Eve.
Nearly half of Liberty's SEC contests have come in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Flames are 0-10 vs. the SEC in the NCAA Tournament.
Liberty's lone SEC triumph was an 80-76 victory at Kentucky on Dec. 12, 1998. That was one year before Carey Green took over as head coach. Green is 0-18 against the SEC.

Schedule