WBB Game Day: Christopher Newport

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (3-3) will tip off a three-game homestand on Saturday against one of the nation's top NCAA Division III programs, Christopher Newport (7-0).
The Lady Flames are 3-1 all-time when facing the Captains, but the two teams have not met in 41 years.
CNU, ranked No. 9 nationally in Division III, will maintain its unbeaten record as it is classifying Saturday's matchup as an exhibition.
The Lady Flames will look to bounce back from a 79-50 setback at WAC preseason favorite Grand Canyon Wednesday afternoon in Liberty's first-ever contest in Arizona.
Liberty will enjoy a size advantage, led by the center duo of 6-6 Bella Smuda and 6-5 Emily Howard. Smuda needs four points to move into the top 10 of Liberty's all-time scoring list. Howard has reached double figures in two of the last three games, including a team-high 10 points at GCU on Wednesday.
Asia Boone paces Liberty's strong three-point shooting squad with 14 triples. She already ranks among the top 20 Lady Flames in program history with 77 career three-pointers, just six games into her sophomore campaign.

Notes and Anecdotes

Christopher Newport will be the Lady Flames' second nationally ranked foe in three home games at Liberty Arena this season. The Captains sit No. 9 in NCAA Division III, while home opener foe Duke was listed No. 11 in NCAA Division I at the time (Nov. 7).
CNU will maintain its 7-0 record regardless of Saturday's outcome, as the Captains are classifying it as an exhibition. CNU previously traveled to Old Dominion for an exhibition on Oct. 27, falling to the Monarchs by a 97-61 count.
The Captains have gone 91-4 since the start of the 2021-22 season, headlined by an NCAA Division III national runner-up finish in 2022-23.
Turnovers will be a stat to watch on Saturday. Liberty is averaging 19.0/game in its three wins and 24.7/game in its three losses. Christopher Newport is forcing its opponents into 36.0 turnovers/game thus far in 2024-25.
For the second game in a row, Liberty will square off against a coach who has won approximately five out of every six games he/she has coached. CNU's Bill Broderick owns a 292-54 career record, good for an 84.4 winning percentage.
Liberty has alternated wins and losses in its last eight games, dating back to last year's CUSA semifinal.

Competing vs. the Commonwealth

Christopher Newport is the first of two Virginia foes on Liberty's 2024-25 schedule. The Lady Flames will also host Randolph on Dec. 11.
Last season, Liberty went 2-2 versus in-state opponents. The Lady Flames are now 9-4 in their last 13 meetings with Commonwealth foes.
Liberty is 7-2 all-time when facing fellow Virginia squads inside Liberty Arena.

Liberty vs. C2C

Liberty is 6-2 when facing teams which currently reside in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C).
The Lady Flames are 3-1 versus Christopher Newport and 3-1 against Mary Washington.
All of those meetings took place before C2C was founded as the Capital Athletic Conference in 1989.

It's Been a While

Saturday will mark the first Liberty-Christopher Newport clash in over 41 years. The teams last squared off in Lynchburg on Nov. 19, 1983. Carey Green was in his second and final season as head girls' basketball coach at Rockwood High School in Rockwood, Tenn., at the time. Katie Mattera had celebrated her first birthday two days earlier.
The three longest gaps between meetings in program history have all happened during the last two seasons. Liberty previously went over 44 years between matchups against Frostburg State (Jan. 15, 1979 to Nov. 6, 2023) and more than 41 years without facing Randolph (Feb. 18, 1982 to Dec. 29, 2023).

Schedule