Saturday, January 27
Lynchburg, Va.
2:00 PM ET
Liberty University
8-13,3-3CUSA
63
vs
32
Jacksonville State
6-12,1-5CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Jacksonville St.
6
4
11
11
32
Liberty
22
12
14
15
63
Liberty Limits Jax State in 63-32 Victory
1/27/2024 7:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – What a difference 17 days makes! Two and a half weeks after losing by 15 points at Jacksonville State, Liberty turned the tables on the Gamecocks with a suffocating defensive performance, Saturday afternoon at Liberty Arena. The Lady Flames posted a wire-to-wire 63-32 victory to earn a split of the season series.
Liberty moves to 8-13 overall and 3-3 in CUSA play with its third win in four outings. The Lady Flames are now tied for fourth place in the conference standings with New Mexico State and UTEP, their next two opponents.
On Saturday, the Lady Flames dominated the glass (47-23 rebounding advantage) and held Jacksonville State (6-12, 1-5 CUSA) to 10 first-half points and a season-low 32 for the game. The Gamecocks, who shot just 27.5 percent (14-of-51) from the field and 6.3 percent (1-of-16) from beyond the arc, lost their fifth straight road game.
Liberty improves to 3-2 in the all-time head-to-head series with Jax State, with the home team winning all five contests.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Bella Smuda – 14 points, 6 rebounds; Emma Hess – 12 points, 3 assists, 3-5 3FG; Jordan Hodges – 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists; Emily Howard – 8 points, 4-4 FG; Claudia Acin – 5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.
Jacksonville State Individuals: Bre'Anna Rhodes – 11 points; Kristol Ayson – 9 points; Mya Barnes – 7 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: Liberty was effective shooting from the floor (24-of-54 for 44.4 percent), three-point range (8-of-22 for 36.4 percent) and the foul line (7-of-9 for 77.8 percent). The Lady Flames had the upper hand in most statistical categories, also including points in the paint (28-18), second-chance points (10-0) and bench points (20-6). Liberty recorded 17 assists on 24 made field goals.
Turning Point
After falling behind Jax State 22-8 during the first quarter of the teams' Jan. 10 matchup in Alabama, Liberty flipped the script on Saturday. The Lady Flames raced out to a 22-6 lead through 10 minutes of play.
Jordan Hodges (nine points) single-handedly outscored the Gamecocks during the first quarter (and the first half as well, 11-10) as the Lady Flames shot 66.7 percent (8-of-12) for the period.
While Liberty later roared back to tie the contest at Jax State, the Gamecocks were never able to get back into Saturday's matinee.
Game Summary
First Quarter
Notes and Nuggets
The Lady Flames will remain at home to open the month of February, playing host to New Mexico State (9-10, 3-3 CUSA) on Thursday for the first time in program history. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Liberty Arena.
Liberty moves to 8-13 overall and 3-3 in CUSA play with its third win in four outings. The Lady Flames are now tied for fourth place in the conference standings with New Mexico State and UTEP, their next two opponents.
On Saturday, the Lady Flames dominated the glass (47-23 rebounding advantage) and held Jacksonville State (6-12, 1-5 CUSA) to 10 first-half points and a season-low 32 for the game. The Gamecocks, who shot just 27.5 percent (14-of-51) from the field and 6.3 percent (1-of-16) from beyond the arc, lost their fifth straight road game.
Liberty improves to 3-2 in the all-time head-to-head series with Jax State, with the home team winning all five contests.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Bella Smuda – 14 points, 6 rebounds; Emma Hess – 12 points, 3 assists, 3-5 3FG; Jordan Hodges – 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists; Emily Howard – 8 points, 4-4 FG; Claudia Acin – 5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.
Jacksonville State Individuals: Bre'Anna Rhodes – 11 points; Kristol Ayson – 9 points; Mya Barnes – 7 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: Liberty was effective shooting from the floor (24-of-54 for 44.4 percent), three-point range (8-of-22 for 36.4 percent) and the foul line (7-of-9 for 77.8 percent). The Lady Flames had the upper hand in most statistical categories, also including points in the paint (28-18), second-chance points (10-0) and bench points (20-6). Liberty recorded 17 assists on 24 made field goals.
Turning Point
After falling behind Jax State 22-8 during the first quarter of the teams' Jan. 10 matchup in Alabama, Liberty flipped the script on Saturday. The Lady Flames raced out to a 22-6 lead through 10 minutes of play.
Jordan Hodges (nine points) single-handedly outscored the Gamecocks during the first quarter (and the first half as well, 11-10) as the Lady Flames shot 66.7 percent (8-of-12) for the period.
While Liberty later roared back to tie the contest at Jax State, the Gamecocks were never able to get back into Saturday's matinee.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- Jax State Head Coach Rick Pietri called as many timeouts (3) as his team made field goals (3-of-13 for 23.1 percent) during the decisive opening period.
- Liberty limited the Gamecocks to four second-quarter points, holding the visitors scoreless for the final 7:58 of the half.
- The Lady Flames tallied the half's final 10 points, taking a 34-10 lead into the intermission.
- Bella Smuda tallied eight of Liberty's 14 third-quarter points, while Kristol Ayson accounted for seven of the Gamecocks' 11 tallies. The Lady Flames owned a 27-point cushion (48-21) heading to the final 10 minutes.
- All eight of Emily Howard's points came during the fourth quarter. Liberty took a pair of 32-point leads on its way to a 31-point win (63-32).
Notes and Nuggets
- Smuda, who had set career highs for points (26) and rebounds (17) at Jax State on Jan. 10, led all players with 14 points in just 20 minutes of work on Saturday.
- A week after going off for a career-best 30 points at Sam Houston, Hess scored a dozen points in 24 minutes for her fourth straight contest in double digits.
- Hodges, who scored in double figures (11 points) for the sixth time this season and the 10th time in her career, matched her career high of seven rebounds.
- It was a big rebounding day for Liberty guards, as Acin (six rebounds) and Wigal (seven rebounds) both came off the bench to set career highs in the category.
- Howard has now tallied 22 points on 9-of-10 from the field over the last two games, after posting a career-best 14 points at Sam Houston a week ago.
- This is the fewest points Liberty has yielded since Dec. 18, 2021, when the Lady Flames won 54-32 at UTRGV. Bridgette Rettstatt, who scored her 1,000th point that day, was one of numerous former Lady Flames in attendance at Saturday's Alumni Day contest.
- Liberty's 31-point margin of victory was just one fewer than the total margin between the two teams during their first four head-to-head matchups.
- On Jan. 10, Jax State had shot 12-of-26 from three-point range to Liberty's 1-of-18. Saturday's final stat sheet had the Lady Flames at 8-of-22 from long distance to the Gamecocks' 1-of-16.
The Lady Flames will remain at home to open the month of February, playing host to New Mexico State (9-10, 3-3 CUSA) on Thursday for the first time in program history. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Liberty Arena.
Team Stats
JSU
Lib
FG%
.275
.444
3FG%
.063
.364
FT%
.429
.778
RB
23
47
TO
14
17
STL
3
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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