WBB Game Day: California Baptist

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (1-1) will wrap up a busy opening week of the 2024-25 season on Saturday, playing host to defending WAC champion California Baptist (0-1) for the first time.
The Lady Flames are 5-0 all-time against WAC opponents, including victories over Grand Canyon and Stephen F. Austin a year ago.
Playing before a Liberty Arena women's basketball-record 2,845 fans on Thursday, the Lady Flames fell 83-67 to No. 11 Duke in a game they trailed by only two points at halftime.
Preseason All-CUSA pick Emma Hess is Liberty's leading scorer this season, averaging 15.5 ppg and hitting seven triples at a 58.3 percent clip. Saturday will mark her 100th appearance in a Liberty uniform.
Another Preseason All-CUSA performer, Asia Boone posted a team-high 15 points against Duke. Eleven of them came during a second period where Liberty outscored the Blue Devils, 22-10.
Sophomore forward Elisabeth Aegisdottir has performed well while joining the starting five this season. She has led the Lady Flames in rebounding in both contests, pulling down 11.0 rpg.

Notes and Anecdotes

Liberty (CUSA) and California Baptist (WAC) were each picked to finish second in their respective conferences this season.
Liberty is currently receiving votes in the Collegeinsider Women's Mid Major Top 25, while the Lancers are listed No. 21.
Both teams are looking to bounce back from losses to Power Conference foes, with Liberty falling to Duke on Thursday and the Lancers dropping their season opener at Oregon on Monday.
California Baptist is the second of three consecutive 2024 NCAA Tournament qualifiers on Liberty's schedule, sandwiched by Duke (Thursday) and Tennessee (Nov. 16).
Liberty (seven) and California Baptist (five) feature a combined 12 international players on their current rosters.
After California Baptist went 28-4 last season, Liberty will attempt to send the Lancers to their first 0-2 start since 1993-94.
This is the first of nine weeks in 2024-25 where Liberty will play on both Thursday and Saturday, with the other eight coming in CUSA play. Last season, the Lady Flames were 4-0 in the second game of Thursday/Saturday swings.

Liberty vs. WAC

Liberty is 5-0 all-time versus WAC opponents, including 2-0 vs. Grand Canyon, 1-0 vs. Kansas City, 1-0 vs. Stephen F. Austin and 1-0 vs. UTRGV.
The Lady Flames' only previous WAC matchup in Lynchburg resulted in a 65-52 victory over Grand Canyon on Dec. 20, 2023.
Liberty will play a pair of WAC opponents this season, also including its first-ever visit to Grand Canyon on Nov. 27.
Grand Canyon and California Baptist were picked 1-2 in this year's WAC preseason poll.

Liberty vs. Golden State Foes

Liberty is 2-3 all-time when facing opponents from California, including 0-1 vs. Cal, 0-1 vs. Fresno State, 1-0 vs. Long Beach State, 0-1 vs. UCLA and 1-0 vs. UC Riverside.
All five previous matchups took place on neutral courts as part of regular-season tournaments, and four of the five were decided by seven points or fewer.
Liberty is facing a California foe for the first time since Nov. 28, 2015, when the Lady Flames fell 77-72 to No. 15 Cal in Las Vegas.
The Lady Flames have lost back-to-back California clashes and are seeking their first win against a Golden State squad since Nov. 21, 2008. That day, Megan Frazee's buzzer-beating layup sent Liberty past UC Riverside 45-44 in a Preseason WNIT consolation matchup hosted by Western Carolina.

Home Sweet Home

The Lady Flames have won more than 85 percent of their contests at Liberty Arena all-time, going 52-9 at the facility which opened its doors on Dec. 1, 2020.
Liberty has lost each of its last two home games, including a 67-52 setback to Middle Tennessee on March 6 and Thursday's 83-67 loss to No. 11 Duke.
The Lady Flames have never lost three games in a row at Liberty Arena. Their last three-game home losing streak included Liberty's first three home tilts of the 2019-20 season at the Vines Center (vs. ETSU, Chattanooga and UNCG).

Filling the Seats

The 2,845 spectators at Thursday's home opener vs. Duke shattered the Liberty Arena women's basketball record of 2,105 and were the most to attend a Lady Flames home game since Nov. 11, 2016 (3,741 fans for a matchup with Duke at the Vines Center).

Schedule