Wednesday, March 13
Huntsville, Ala.
3:00 PM ET/2:00 PM CT
Liberty University
17-15,11-5CUSA
62
vs
59
Western Kentucky
15-17,6-10CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Western Ky.
11
14
18
16
59
Liberty
14
18
14
16
62
(L-R): Asia Boone, Emma Hess, Elisabeth Aegisdottir and Jordan Hodges were all smiles after the final buzzer sounded.
Liberty Survives WKU, 62-59, in CUSA Quarterfinal
3/13/2024 7:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – No. 2 seed Liberty made a memorable CUSA Women's Basketball Championship debut, Wednesday afternoon at Propst Arena. A clutch three-pointer by Asia Boone and two big free throws from Emma Hess within the final 20 seconds enabled the Lady Flames to hold off No. 7 seed Western Kentucky, 62-59, and earn a spot in the semifinals.
Liberty improves to 17-15 with its second win over WKU in five days. The Lady Flames never trailed but had to survive two potential game-tying three-point attempts on the Lady Toppers' final possession.
The Lady Flames, who got 17 points apiece from Jordan Bailey and Boone and a double-double from Bella Smuda (10 points, 12 rebounds), advance to their conference tournament's semifinal round for the seventh straight year and the 27th time in the last 28 seasons. Liberty will meet the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal between No. 3 seed FIU and No. 6 seed New Mexico State, Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern.
WKU's season ends at 15-17 despite a big second half by Destiny Salary, who scored 17 of her game-high 22 points after the intermission. The Lady Toppers cut their deficit to one six different times in the second half, including twice in the final 62 seconds. But Liberty had an answer each time.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Jordan Bailey – 17 points, 5-6 3FG; Asia Boone – 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3-8 3FG; Bella Smuda – 10 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks; Jordan Hodges – 8 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists.
Western Kentucky Individuals: Destiny Salary – 22 points, 9 rebounds, 3-6 3FG; Teresa Faustino – 12 points; Aaliyah Pitts – 7 points.
Key Team Stats: Liberty ended up at 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from three-point range, while making all six of its free throw attempts. WKU shot 36.5 percent (23-of-63) from the floor, 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the foul line. Liberty outrebounded WKU by a 43-32 count, but the Lady Toppers converted 13 offensive boards into 13 second-chance points. WKU converted Liberty's 19 turnovers into 18 points and enjoyed slight advantages in points in the paint (26-22) and bench points (10-4).
Turning Point
With the shot clock buzzer about to expire and Liberty clinging to a one-point lead (57-56), CUSA Freshman of the Year Boone calmly knocked down a triple from the left wing with 19.9 seconds remaining.
Teresa Faustino countered with a triple of her own five seconds later for WKU, and it was back to a one-point contest at 60-59.
Forced to foul, the Lady Toppers sent Hess to the line with 10.2 ticks remaining. She hit both shots, and the Liberty lead was back to three (62-59).
Both Acacia Hayes and Faustino got contested looks at game-tying three-pointers in the closing seconds, but neither connected for WKU.
Game Summary
First Quarter
Liberty improves to 17-15 with its second win over WKU in five days. The Lady Flames never trailed but had to survive two potential game-tying three-point attempts on the Lady Toppers' final possession.
The Lady Flames, who got 17 points apiece from Jordan Bailey and Boone and a double-double from Bella Smuda (10 points, 12 rebounds), advance to their conference tournament's semifinal round for the seventh straight year and the 27th time in the last 28 seasons. Liberty will meet the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal between No. 3 seed FIU and No. 6 seed New Mexico State, Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern.
WKU's season ends at 15-17 despite a big second half by Destiny Salary, who scored 17 of her game-high 22 points after the intermission. The Lady Toppers cut their deficit to one six different times in the second half, including twice in the final 62 seconds. But Liberty had an answer each time.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Jordan Bailey – 17 points, 5-6 3FG; Asia Boone – 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3-8 3FG; Bella Smuda – 10 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks; Jordan Hodges – 8 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists.
Western Kentucky Individuals: Destiny Salary – 22 points, 9 rebounds, 3-6 3FG; Teresa Faustino – 12 points; Aaliyah Pitts – 7 points.
Key Team Stats: Liberty ended up at 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from three-point range, while making all six of its free throw attempts. WKU shot 36.5 percent (23-of-63) from the floor, 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the foul line. Liberty outrebounded WKU by a 43-32 count, but the Lady Toppers converted 13 offensive boards into 13 second-chance points. WKU converted Liberty's 19 turnovers into 18 points and enjoyed slight advantages in points in the paint (26-22) and bench points (10-4).
Turning Point
With the shot clock buzzer about to expire and Liberty clinging to a one-point lead (57-56), CUSA Freshman of the Year Boone calmly knocked down a triple from the left wing with 19.9 seconds remaining.
ICE COLD ASIA! pic.twitter.com/oBnZUiHg6B
— Liberty Women's Basketball (@LibertyWBB) March 13, 2024
Teresa Faustino countered with a triple of her own five seconds later for WKU, and it was back to a one-point contest at 60-59.
Forced to foul, the Lady Toppers sent Hess to the line with 10.2 ticks remaining. She hit both shots, and the Liberty lead was back to three (62-59).
Both Acacia Hayes and Faustino got contested looks at game-tying three-pointers in the closing seconds, but neither connected for WKU.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- Jordan Bailey knocked down a pair of early three-pointers, helping Liberty grab the lead. The Lady Flames were on top 14-11 after a first period where Jordan Hodges dished out four assists and WKU shot just 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from the field.
- Bailey's fourth triple of the opening half gave Liberty a 28-17 advantage, 3:51 before halftime.
- WKU was able to battle back within seven (32-25) by the intermission.
- The Lady Flames shot the ball well from the field (13-of-28 for 46.4 percent) and three-point range (6-of-12 for 50 percent) during the first 20 minutes of action.
- Destiny Salary scored nine points during the third quarter for WKU, helping the Lady Toppers pull within a single point on three occasions (39-38, 42-41 and 44-43) late in the quarter.
- But Liberty did not relinquish the advantage, taking a 46-43 edge into the final period. Bella Smuda tallied the Lady Flames' final four points of the period, closing out her six-point, four-rebound session.
- Salary tallied eight more points during the fourth quarter for WKU, while nearly half of Boone's scoring total for the game (8 of 17) came in the final 10 minutes.
- Liberty survived five turnovers during the fourth stanza, improving to 4-2 this season in games decided by five points or fewer.
- The lone senior on Liberty's roster, Bailey hit a career-high five triples and scored her most points (17) since tallying a season-high 18 during a Nov. 10 win at Stephen F. Austin. Coming into Wednesday's contest, Bailey had made only seven three-pointers all season.
- Boone scored in double figures for the 14th time during her freshman season.
- Smuda's double-double was her 16th of the season, tying the center with Ashley Rininger (2013-14) for fourth most in program history. She also scored in double figures for the 13th game in a row (11 of which Liberty has won) and the 50th time in her career.
- Hodges' game-high six assists give her 145 for the season. That is the most by a Lady Flame since 1997-98, when Sarah Wilkerson finished with 149.
- Liberty finishes 2-1 against WKU this season after the two teams were picked to tie for second place in the preseason CUSA poll. The three contests were decided by a total of 12 points.
- The Lady Flames hit 10 triples for the second straight game against WKU, pushing their season total to 217. Liberty set a program single-season record with 224 triples last season.
- Liberty won the rebounding battle for the eighth game in a row.
- Carey Green improved to 57-9 when coaching in conference tournament games, and the Lady Flames are now 62-3 in NCAA Division I conference tournament contests when favored according to seed.
Team Stats
WestKy
Lib
FG%
.365
.418
3FG%
.269
.417
FT%
.667
1.000
RB
32
43
TO
9
19
STL
4
3
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballC
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