Saturday, March 9
Bowling Green, Ky.
3:00 PM ET/2:00 PM CT
Liberty University
16-15,11-5CUSA
84
at
77
Western Kentucky
15-16,6-10CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Liberty
12
18
24
30
84
Western Ky.
15
22
24
16
77
Jordan Hodges scored 11 of her 19 points during the fourth quarter.
Red-Hot Liberty Roars Back to Top WKU, 84-77, in Regular-Season Finale
3/9/2024 7:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Trailing host Western Kentucky by as many as 11 points during the second half of Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale, Liberty used red-hot shooting to fuel a comeback. The Lady Flames hit 84.6 percent (11-of-13) of their fourth-quarter field goal attempts, leading to an 84-77 come-from-behind victory at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Liberty closes out the regular season at 16-15 overall and 11-5 in its first year of CUSA play, winning the tiebreaker with FIU for the No. 2 seed following its fourth consecutive road win. The Lady Flames, who shot a season-high 60.4 percent (32-of-53) for the game and knocked down 10 triples, were led by a talented trio of juniors. Emma Hess hit four triples as part of a game-high 22-point performance and was followed closely by Bella Smuda (21 points, 9 rebounds, 10-11 FG) and Jordan Hodges (19 points, 8 assists).
WKU falls to 15-16 overall and 6-10 in CUSA play with its sixth consecutive setback. The Lady Toppers put four players into double figures and scored 22 points off Liberty's 17 turnovers. However, WKU was outrebounded 21-6 during the Lady Flames' 54-point second half.
Liberty gained a measure of revenge against the Lady Toppers, after WKU had rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat the Lady Flames by a 68-66 count, spoiling Liberty's first-ever CUSA tilt on Jan. 6.
The two teams will meet again in four days, with their CUSA Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinal clash set for Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Asia Boone – 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists; Jordan Bailey – 7 points, 5 rebounds.
Western Kentucky Individuals: Destiny Salary – 15 points, 4 assists; Josie Gilvin – 15 points, 3-5 3FG; Teresa Faustino – 14 points, 5 steals; Alexis Mead – 12 points, 5 assists.
Key Team Stats: In addition to its overall field goal proficiency, Liberty also shot well from three-point range (41.7 percent, 10-of-24) and the foul line (90.9 percent, 10-of-11). WKU finished at 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from the field, hitting seven triples on the afternoon. The Lady Flames enjoyed advantages in rebounding (38-20) and points in the paint (36-30) but committed 17 turnovers to the Lady Toppers' four. WKU had the upper hand in points off turnovers (22-4), second-chance points (10-4) and bench points (26-6).
Turning Point
Trailing by seven points (61-54) after three quarters, Liberty took control with a 17-2 run to begin the fourth.
The Lady Flames held WKU without a made field goal for 6:16 to start the final period. During that time, Hodges scored nine points for the Lady Flames.
Hess's jumper at the 4:04 mark wrapped up the extended surge with Liberty now owning a 71-63 advantage.
The Lady Flames' lead stayed above five points for the rest of the contest.
Game Summary
First Quarter
The No. 2 seed Lady Flames will begin their inaugural CUSA Women's Basketball Championship appearance on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern with a quarterfinal clash against No. 7 seed Western Kentucky. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
The winner of that game will meet the winner of Thursday's matchup between No. 3 seed FIU and No. 6 seed New Mexico State in the semifinals, Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern., live on ESPN+.
The championship game is slated for Saturday, March 16 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern and will air on CBS Sports Network.
All tournament games will take place at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.
Tickets are available at LibertyFlames.com/CUSABasketball for the general public.
Student tickets may be purchased for a discounted rate of $10 per session by logging into LibertyFlames.com/MyAccount.
Liberty closes out the regular season at 16-15 overall and 11-5 in its first year of CUSA play, winning the tiebreaker with FIU for the No. 2 seed following its fourth consecutive road win. The Lady Flames, who shot a season-high 60.4 percent (32-of-53) for the game and knocked down 10 triples, were led by a talented trio of juniors. Emma Hess hit four triples as part of a game-high 22-point performance and was followed closely by Bella Smuda (21 points, 9 rebounds, 10-11 FG) and Jordan Hodges (19 points, 8 assists).
WKU falls to 15-16 overall and 6-10 in CUSA play with its sixth consecutive setback. The Lady Toppers put four players into double figures and scored 22 points off Liberty's 17 turnovers. However, WKU was outrebounded 21-6 during the Lady Flames' 54-point second half.
Liberty gained a measure of revenge against the Lady Toppers, after WKU had rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat the Lady Flames by a 68-66 count, spoiling Liberty's first-ever CUSA tilt on Jan. 6.
The two teams will meet again in four days, with their CUSA Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinal clash set for Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Asia Boone – 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists; Jordan Bailey – 7 points, 5 rebounds.
Western Kentucky Individuals: Destiny Salary – 15 points, 4 assists; Josie Gilvin – 15 points, 3-5 3FG; Teresa Faustino – 14 points, 5 steals; Alexis Mead – 12 points, 5 assists.
Key Team Stats: In addition to its overall field goal proficiency, Liberty also shot well from three-point range (41.7 percent, 10-of-24) and the foul line (90.9 percent, 10-of-11). WKU finished at 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from the field, hitting seven triples on the afternoon. The Lady Flames enjoyed advantages in rebounding (38-20) and points in the paint (36-30) but committed 17 turnovers to the Lady Toppers' four. WKU had the upper hand in points off turnovers (22-4), second-chance points (10-4) and bench points (26-6).
Turning Point
Trailing by seven points (61-54) after three quarters, Liberty took control with a 17-2 run to begin the fourth.
The Lady Flames held WKU without a made field goal for 6:16 to start the final period. During that time, Hodges scored nine points for the Lady Flames.
Hess's jumper at the 4:04 mark wrapped up the extended surge with Liberty now owning a 71-63 advantage.
The Lady Flames' lead stayed above five points for the rest of the contest.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- After Liberty raced out to an early seven-point advantage, WKU closed out the opening quarter with a 13-3 run to take a 15-12 lead.
- Teresa Faustino scored seven points for the Lady Toppers, who turned Liberty's six turnovers into eight points.
- For the second quarter in a row, WKU closed things out with a flurry. A 13-2 run by the Lady Toppers sent the home team into intermission with a 37-30 edge.
- Emma Hess tallied eight of her 11 first-half points during the second quarter. But Liberty committed five more turnovers, bringing its total to 11.
- Both teams flourished at the offensive end during the third period, scoring 24 points apiece.
- WKU led 61-54 after a stanza where Liberty shot 64.3 percent (9-of-14) and the Lady Toppers connected at a 60 percent (9-of-15) rate from the field.
- Liberty poured in 30 points during the decisive final period, including 11 by Jordan Hodges, who hit all five of her field goal attempts. The Lady Flames shot 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the field, 50 percent (1-of-2) from three-point range and 87.5 percent (7-of-8) from the line.
- During the Lady Flames' 54-point second half, they shot 74.1 percent (20-of-27) as a team.
- Hess went over the 20-point mark for the sixth time this season, finishing with an average of 24.4 ppg in Liberty's five CUSA road wins.
- Hess became Liberty's 34th player to score 800 career points, ending the regular season in a tie with Lil Cooper for 30th on the Lady Flames' all-time scoring list with 808 tallies.
- Smuda's seventh 20-point outing of the season was the center's 12th straight contest scoring in double figures. She shot 10-of-11 from the field (90.9 percent), tying for the third-best single-game field goal percentage (minimum 10 attempts) in program history.
- Hodges, who scored 16 of her 19 points after halftime, finished just one point shy of her career high. She equaled her career high of three made triples for the second game in a row.
- Hodges recorded a game-high eight assists and only two turnovers in 36 minutes on Saturday, ending up with a 65-to-16 assist-to-turnover ratio during Liberty's 10-2 finish to the regular season's final dozen contests.
- Elisabeth Aegisdottir, who entered the game shooting 57.1 percent from the free throw line and not having attempted one since Jan. 20 at Sam Houston, shot 4-of-4 during the final 32 seconds to seal the win.
- Liberty is now 2-0 all-time at E.A. Diddle Arena. Assistant coach Katie (Feenstra) Mattera posted a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) during the Lady Flames' 71-57 victory at WKU on Dec. 30, 2002.
- Saturday's win marked Liberty's seven victory in its last eight regular-season finales.
- The Lady Flames shot over 60 percent for the first time since Jan. 19, 2023 vs. Stetson (60.8 percent).
- Liberty is now 153-5 under Carey Green when shooting 50 percent or better from the field, including 5-1 this season.
- This marked the second straight road game where Liberty erased a double-digit deficit to win. The Lady Flames overcame a 12-point deficit to win 80-63 at UTEP on March 2.
- Liberty has won the rebounding battle in each of its last seven contests.
The No. 2 seed Lady Flames will begin their inaugural CUSA Women's Basketball Championship appearance on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern with a quarterfinal clash against No. 7 seed Western Kentucky. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
The winner of that game will meet the winner of Thursday's matchup between No. 3 seed FIU and No. 6 seed New Mexico State in the semifinals, Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern., live on ESPN+.
The championship game is slated for Saturday, March 16 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern and will air on CBS Sports Network.
All tournament games will take place at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.
Tickets are available at LibertyFlames.com/CUSABasketball for the general public.
Student tickets may be purchased for a discounted rate of $10 per session by logging into LibertyFlames.com/MyAccount.
Team Stats
Lib
WestKy
FG%
.604
.469
3FG%
.417
.350
FT%
.909
.714
RB
38
20
TO
17
4
STL
1
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballC
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