WBB Game Day: Middle Tennessee

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (15-14, 10-4 CUSA) will close out its home schedule against CUSA regular-season champion Middle Tennessee (24-4, 14-0 CUSA) on Wednesday.
The Lady Flames are 9-1 in their last 10 games, with the lone loss coming at Middle Tennessee on Feb. 8 (81-55). Liberty and FIU are currently tied for second place with two games remaining.
Emma Hess was named CUSA Player of the Week for the first time on Monday. She averaged a team-high 20.5 ppg during Liberty's 2-0 trip to New Mexico State and UTEP and set the program single-season record for three-pointers on Saturday with her 65th triple.
Coming off a career-high 25-point effort at UTEP on Saturday, Asia Boone earned her program-record ninth CUSA Freshman of the Week honor on Monday (including any conference Liberty has played in).
Bella Smuda has scored in double figures in 10 straight games and has recorded eight of her conference-leading 14 double-doubles in CUSA play.
Point guard Jordan Hodges has posted a 54-to-10 assist-to-turnover ratio in the last 10 games, including 14 assists to 0 turnovers during last week's road trip.

Notes and Anecdotes

Middle Tennessee (14 straight wins) and Liberty (9-1 in the last 10 games) are the two hottest teams in CUSA, entering the final week of the regular season.
Liberty has reached double digits in conference victories for the 25th consecutive season, spanning three leagues (Big South, ASUN and CUSA). Middle Tennessee has won 10+ conference games for the 21st straight season, spanning a pair of leagues (Sun Belt and CUSA).
The Lady Flames, who have won a season-best five straight games overall and six in a row at Liberty Arena, will attempt to snap the Lady Raiders' 21-game CUSA winning streak.
Wednesday will mark Liberty's ninth game this season against a 2023 NCAA Tournament qualifier. The Lady Flames are 1-7 in those contests thus far, with the lone win coming over James Madison on Dec. 1.
Liberty players have combined to win 10 of 17 CUSA Freshman of the Week awards this season, while Middle Tennessee players have claimed nine of 17 CUSA Player of the Week notations.
Middle Tennessee assistant coach Kim (Reeves) Brewton played three seasons at Liberty (1997-98 through 1999-2000). Her final year was Carey Green's first season as head coach.

Home Sweet Home

The Lady Flames have won six straight home games by an average of 19.7 ppg, improving to 10-4 at Liberty Arena this season.
Bella Smuda has led the way during the six-game home winning streak, averaging 18.2 ppg and 10.7 rpg while shooting 67.8 percent from the field and 87.9 percent from the foul line.
The Lady Flames own a 52-7 all-time record at Liberty Arena, which opened in December 2020, including a 30-2 mark in conference play.

Shooting Into History

Emma Hess's first of three made triples at UTEP on Saturday was her 65th of the year, setting a new Liberty single-season record. The previous mark of 64 was held by Cynthia Thomson (1989-90) and Emily Lytle (2018-19).
Hess is making 39.0 percent of her three-point tries this season, just off the program single-season mark of 39.1 percent, set by Lytle in 2020-21.

All About Asia

Asia Boone won her ninth CUSA Freshman of the Week honor on Monday, setting the program single-season record. Keyen Green captured a then program-best eight Big South Freshman of the Week awards in 2016-17.
The only conference player ever to win the award more often than Boone was Rice's Jessica Kuster, who collected a record 11 CUSA Freshman of the Week laurels in 2010-11.
Boone previously swept all four CUSA Freshman of the Week nods in December, becoming the fourth player in conference history to win the award four times in a row.

Seeing Double-Double

Bella Smuda has recorded 14 double-doubles this season, eight of which have come in CUSA play. That is the most by a Lady Flame since 2014-15, when Ashley Rininger also had 14.
Smuda's next double-double would put her into a tie for fifth place on Liberty's single-season list and be the most by a Lady Flame since 2013-14 (Rininger - 16).

Schedule