Wednesday, December 20
Lynchburg, Va.
2:00 PM ET
Liberty University
4-9,0-0CUSA
65
vs
52
Grand Canyon
8-3,2-0WAC
1
2
3
4
F
Grand Canyon
11
8
15
18
52
Liberty
21
11
14
19
65
Bella Smuda scored a career-high 24 points on Wednesday.
Smuda, Boone Lead Liberty Past GCU, 65-52
12/20/2023 4:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Career-high scoring outputs by the Liberty duo of Bella Smuda (24 points) and Asia Boone (18 points) helped the Lady Flames post a wire-to-wire 65-52 win over Grand Canyon, Wednesday afternoon at Liberty Arena.
The Lady Flames improve to 4-9 after snapping a four-game losing streak. They are now 5-0 all-time against WAC opponents, including 2-0 this season, and moved to 45-5 in their first 50 games played inside Liberty Arena.
Preseason WAC favorite Grand Canyon, which had won six straight, drops to 8-3 on the season. The Lopes shot just 33.3 percent (18-of-54) from the field, scoring a season-low 52 points.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Smuda – 24 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks; Boone – 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 4-5 3FG; Jordan Hodges – 10 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 40 minutes played.
Grand Canyon Individuals: Naudia Evans – 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3-7 3FG; Shay Fano – 11 points, 7 rebounds; Trinity San Antonio – 9 points, 3 assists.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot the ball well from the field (24-of-52 for 46.2 percent) and three-point range (8-of-13 for a season-high 61.5 percent). Both teams struggled from the foul line, with Liberty hitting 9-of-15 for 60 percent and GCU connecting at a 58.8 percent (10-of-17) clip. The Lady Flames recorded 16 assists on 24 made field goals and finished with a 37-33 rebounding edge. The Lopes finished with 25 bench points to Liberty's seven.
Turning Point
Smuda set the tone for the game by tallying eight straight points during an 11-4 Liberty run to open the contest.
Despite numerous comeback attempts by GCU, the Lady Flames' lead never dropped below five points the rest of the day.
Game Summary
First Quarter
Notes and Nuggets
After a break from competition for Christmas, Liberty will be back in action on Dec. 29, hosting crosstown foe Randolph (7-3) at 7 p.m., inside Liberty Arena.
The Lady Flames improve to 4-9 after snapping a four-game losing streak. They are now 5-0 all-time against WAC opponents, including 2-0 this season, and moved to 45-5 in their first 50 games played inside Liberty Arena.
Preseason WAC favorite Grand Canyon, which had won six straight, drops to 8-3 on the season. The Lopes shot just 33.3 percent (18-of-54) from the field, scoring a season-low 52 points.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Smuda – 24 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks; Boone – 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 4-5 3FG; Jordan Hodges – 10 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 40 minutes played.
Grand Canyon Individuals: Naudia Evans – 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3-7 3FG; Shay Fano – 11 points, 7 rebounds; Trinity San Antonio – 9 points, 3 assists.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot the ball well from the field (24-of-52 for 46.2 percent) and three-point range (8-of-13 for a season-high 61.5 percent). Both teams struggled from the foul line, with Liberty hitting 9-of-15 for 60 percent and GCU connecting at a 58.8 percent (10-of-17) clip. The Lady Flames recorded 16 assists on 24 made field goals and finished with a 37-33 rebounding edge. The Lopes finished with 25 bench points to Liberty's seven.
Turning Point
Smuda set the tone for the game by tallying eight straight points during an 11-4 Liberty run to open the contest.
Despite numerous comeback attempts by GCU, the Lady Flames' lead never dropped below five points the rest of the day.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- The Lady Flames shot 4-of-6 from three-point range during the first 10 minutes, including a pair of makes by Asia Boone, pushing their lead to double digits (21-11) by the end of the period.
- GCU missed 10 of its final 11 shot attempts to close out the first half. During that time, the Lady Flames outscored the Lopes by a 9-2 count, opening up a 13-point (32-19) halftime cushion.
- Smuda enjoyed a big first half, leading all players in points (14) and rebounds (7).
- Liberty's Boone (6 points) and GCU's Shay Fano (7 points) traded hoops for much of the third quarter.
- Jordan Hodges then knocked down back-to-back triples late in the period to keep the Lady Flames' lead in double digits (46-34) heading to the fourth.
- Naudia Evans nailed two three-pointers during the fourth quarter, the second of which trimmed Liberty's lead to seven (59-52) with 2:14 left.
- The Lady Flames then got a tip-in from Smuda and a three-pointer from Boone on back-to-back possessions to seal the victory.
Notes and Nuggets
- Smuda's career-high 24 points were the most by a Lady Flame this season, and she completed her fifth double-double of the year with a game-high 12 rebounds.
- Smuda's two blocked shots give her 149 for her career, putting the redshirt junior in sole possession of fifth place in program history.
- Three-time reigning CUSA Freshman of the Week Boone set career highs for points (18), three-pointers made (4) and steals (5). Her five steals were the most by a Lady Flame since Dee Brown came up with five steals the last time Liberty faced GCU (Dec. 17, 2021).
- Boone shot 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, improving to 7-of-8 from long distance in the last two games.
- Jordan Hodges played all 40 minutes, becoming the first Lady Flame to play every second of a contest since Reagan Miller went all 40 minutes during the 2012 Big South Championship title game against High Point. In the process, Hodges posted her fifth game of 5+ assists in the last six outings and equaled her career high of three triples.
- Prior to Wednesday, Liberty had lost back-to-back home games for the first time in its four seasons of competition at Liberty Arena.
- GCU is the second preseason conference favorite Liberty has defeated this season. The Lady Flames topped Sun Belt favorite James Madison 67-53 on Dec. 1.
After a break from competition for Christmas, Liberty will be back in action on Dec. 29, hosting crosstown foe Randolph (7-3) at 7 p.m., inside Liberty Arena.
Team Stats
GCU
Lib
FG%
.333
.462
3FG%
.286
.615
FT%
.588
.600
RB
33
37
TO
17
15
STL
6
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
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