WBB Game Day: Arkansas

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (6-3) will match up against Arkansas (6-6) for the first time in program history during the nightcap of Wednesday's opening day of action at the Cherokee Invitational.
Wednesday's victor will face the winner of the previous contest (Toledo vs. Troy) Thursday night for the championship, while the two losing teams will square off in the consolation tilt.
The Lady Flames have won a season-best three games in a row. However, they are just 1-23 all-time against SEC opponents, having lost 22 straight meetings with conference foes. That includes Liberty's 109-93 setback at Tennessee on Nov. 16.
Asia Boone (21 triples) has been the most consistent outside threat for a squad which ranks No. 14 nationally for three-point field goal percentage (38.9) and No. 32 in triples per game (8.6). Liberty hit a program-record 15 three-pointers in 109-26 win over Randolph on Dec. 11.
Bella Smuda (12.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.8 bpg) anchors the Lady Flames in the post. She matched her career high of 27 points during Liberty's first SEC matchup this year (Nov. 16 at Tennessee).

Notes and Anecdotes

Liberty will face Arkansas for the first time in program history on Wednesday. The Lady Flames have never met their two possible Thursday opponents (Toledo or Troy) either.
Both the Lady Flames and Razorbacks have played well of late, with Liberty riding a season-best three-game winning streak and Arkansas going 2-1 in December thus far.
Liberty will aim to slow down senior guard Izzy Higginbottom, the nation's fourth-leading scorer at 23.8 ppg.
The Lady Flames have seen Arkansas Head Coach Mike Neighbors in a tournament setting before. He was an assistant on Kevin McGuff's staff when Liberty topped host Xavier 61-56 on Nov. 25, 2007 in the title game of the National City Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Both teams feature international flavor, with Liberty boasting six international players and Arkansas fielding five. Each squad's roster includes players from both Spain (Liberty - Claudia Acin and Anna Badosa & Arkansas - Cristina Sanchez Cerqueira) and the Netherlands (Liberty - Pien Steenbergen and Arkansas - Phoenix Stotijn).
Liberty will look to collect Conference USA's second victory over a Power 4 opponent in 2024-25 (also Middle Tennessee vs. Purdue on Nov. 28.) CUSA teams are 1-13 versus opponents from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC this season.

Liberty vs. SEC

Liberty is 1-23 all-time against SEC opponents, having lost its last 22 meetings with conference foes. Ten of the Lady Flames' SEC matchups have come in the NCAA Tournament, and Liberty is 0-10 in those contests.
The Lady Flames are 0-1 versus the SEC this season, losing a 109-93 decision at Tennessee on Nov. 16.
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 0-21 against the SEC.

Tournament Time

The Cherokee Invitational is the only regular-season tournament on Liberty's 2024-25 schedule.
The Lady Flames have gone 6-5 during regular-season tournaments since the start of the 2021-22 season, highlighted by 2-0 showings at the 2021 Navy Classic (Annapolis, Md.), 2021 South Padre Island Classic (South Padre Island, Texas) and 2022 Husky Classic (Seattle, Wash.).

Schedule