Saturday, February 17
Lynchburg, Va.
2:00 PM ET
Liberty University
12-14,7-4CUSA
86
vs
56
Sam Houston
6-17,1-10CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Sam Houston
13
18
10
15
56
Liberty
25
24
18
19
86
Liberty honored Bella Smuda, Jordan Bailey and manager Goldy Johnsons prior to Saturday's Senior Day contest.
Seniors Control Paint During 86-56 Victory Over Sam Houston
2/17/2024 7:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – After being honored during a pregame Senior Day ceremony, Liberty posts Bella Smuda and Jordan Bailey combined for 27 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Their efforts helped the Lady Flames control the paint during a comfortable 86-56 win over Sam Houston, Saturday afternoon at Liberty Arena.
Liberty moves to 12-14 overall and 7-4 in CUSA play after posting its fifth consecutive home win to complete a season sweep of the Bearkats. The third-place Lady Flames were dominant in the rebounding (50-27), points in the paint (46-16) and second-chance points (26-7) categories.
Sam Houston, which never led, drops to 6-17 overall and 1-10 in conference action. The Bearkats shot just 27.3 percent (18-of-66) for the contest and have still not won a game outside of Texas this season.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Smuda – 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks; Asia Boone – 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3-7 3FG; Emma Hess – 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2-5 3FG; Claudia Acin – 9 points, 3 assists; Jordan Hodges – 8 points, 5 assists.
Sam Houston Individuals: Kaylee Jefferson – 15 points, 7-8 FT; Sydnee Kemp – 11 points, 4 rebounds; Shanti Henry – 11 point, 3-8 3FG; Raanee Smith – 6 points, 10 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot well from the field, finishing at 55.6 percent (35-of-63) from the field and 40 percent (8-of-20) from three-point range. The Lady Flames hit all eight of their free throw attempts, while Sam Houston was 15-of-18 for 83.8 percent from the line. Liberty tallied 27 bench points to Sam Houston's 11 and recorded all five of the game's blocked shots. The Bearkats finished with only 10 turnovers and posted 10 fast break points.
Turning Point
Liberty raced out to an early 8-0 advantage and never looked back.
The Lady Flames shot 64.7 percent (11-of-17) during a 25-point first quarter, aided by Asia Boone's eight points, building a 12-point advantage through 10 minutes of play.
Liberty's lead remained in double digits for the remainder of the afternoon.
Game Summary
First Quarter
Notes and Nuggets
The Lady Flames will welcome second-place FIU (18-7, 9-2 CUSA) to Liberty Arena for the first time, Thursday at 7 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Lady Flames by a 70-59 count on Jan. 18 in Miami during the first-ever meeting between the two squads.
Liberty moves to 12-14 overall and 7-4 in CUSA play after posting its fifth consecutive home win to complete a season sweep of the Bearkats. The third-place Lady Flames were dominant in the rebounding (50-27), points in the paint (46-16) and second-chance points (26-7) categories.
Sam Houston, which never led, drops to 6-17 overall and 1-10 in conference action. The Bearkats shot just 27.3 percent (18-of-66) for the contest and have still not won a game outside of Texas this season.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Smuda – 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks; Asia Boone – 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3-7 3FG; Emma Hess – 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2-5 3FG; Claudia Acin – 9 points, 3 assists; Jordan Hodges – 8 points, 5 assists.
Sam Houston Individuals: Kaylee Jefferson – 15 points, 7-8 FT; Sydnee Kemp – 11 points, 4 rebounds; Shanti Henry – 11 point, 3-8 3FG; Raanee Smith – 6 points, 10 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot well from the field, finishing at 55.6 percent (35-of-63) from the field and 40 percent (8-of-20) from three-point range. The Lady Flames hit all eight of their free throw attempts, while Sam Houston was 15-of-18 for 83.8 percent from the line. Liberty tallied 27 bench points to Sam Houston's 11 and recorded all five of the game's blocked shots. The Bearkats finished with only 10 turnovers and posted 10 fast break points.
Turning Point
Liberty raced out to an early 8-0 advantage and never looked back.
The Lady Flames shot 64.7 percent (11-of-17) during a 25-point first quarter, aided by Asia Boone's eight points, building a 12-point advantage through 10 minutes of play.
Liberty's lead remained in double digits for the remainder of the afternoon.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- Shanti Henry provided much of Sam Houston's early offense with three first-quarter triples. However, the rest of her team shot just 2-of-10 during the stanza.
- Smuda began to assert herself with eight points during the second period as Liberty outscored the visitors, 24-18.
- Claudia Acin's lengthy triple at the halftime buzzer sent the Lady Flames into the locker room with a 49-31 advantage.
- Liberty limited the Bearkats to 10 third-quarter points on 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from the field, pushing its cushion to 26 points (67-41) heading to the final period.
- Kaylee Jefferson scored seven points for Sam Houston during the fourth. But Smuda countered with eight of her own for Liberty before leaving to a rousing ovation midway through the period.
- The Lady Flames closed out their fourth consecutive double-digit victory at home, with two of them coming by 30+ points.
Notes and Nuggets
- One game after joining the 1,000-point club, Smuda scored in double figures for the seventh straight game. Three of her six career 20-point outings have come during that stretch.
- Smuda shot 7-of-7 from the free throw line, matching her season high for foul shots made in a game.
- Seven-time CUSA Freshman of the Week Boone returned to form with 14 points following a two-game road trip where she shot 0-of-16 from the field.
- After going for a career-high 30 points during Liberty's 84-77 win at Sam Houston on Jan. 20, Hess finished with 10 points on Saturday. Her two triples give her 58 for the season, good for fifth on Liberty's single-season list. The junior has now hit 150 career triples, tying her with Devon Brown for sixth all-time for the Lady Flames.
- Acin set a new career high with nine points, eclipsing her previous best of eight from the Nov. 12 contest at Texas.
- Liberty's two highest scoring outputs of the season have come in its last two home games, as the Lady Flames previously posted an 87-68 win over UTEP on Feb. 3.
- The Lady Flames' 26 second-chance points matched their season high (also Nov. 6 vs. Frostburg State), and their 27 bench points were their most in a CUSA game.
- Liberty improved to 152-5 under Carey Green when shooting 50 percent or better from the field (4-1 this season) and 162-25 in February contests under Green (4-1 this season).
The Lady Flames will welcome second-place FIU (18-7, 9-2 CUSA) to Liberty Arena for the first time, Thursday at 7 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Lady Flames by a 70-59 count on Jan. 18 in Miami during the first-ever meeting between the two squads.
Team Stats
SHSU
Lib
FG%
.273
.556
3FG%
.217
.400
FT%
.833
1.000
RB
27
50
TO
10
17
STL
11
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's BasketballC
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