Saturday, January 18
Las Cruces, N.M.
4:00 PM ET/2:00 PM MT
Liberty University
12-5,5-1CUSA
82
at
72
New Mexico State
10-8,3-2CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Liberty
24
22
17
19
82
New Mexico St.
18
14
19
21
72
Avery Mills hit two of Liberty's 11 three-pointers on Saturday.
Liberty Takes Over 1st Place with 82-72 Victory at NM State
1/18/2025 7:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Liberty used one of its best shooting performances of the season to complete a sweep of its two-game western road swing, Saturday at New Mexico State. The Lady Flames' 82-72 victory, coupled with Middle Tennessee's loss at WKU, moves Liberty into sole possession of first place in the CUSA standings.
Liberty, which improves to 12-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play with its fourth consecutive win, is a half game ahead of Middle Tennessee (4-1) atop the conference ledger. Saturday's victory saw four Lady Flames score in double figures as the visitors scorched the nets from the field (54.5 percent, 24-of-44), three-point range (55 percent, 11-of-20) and the foul line (88.5 percent, 23-of-26).
New Mexico State (10-8, 3-2 CUSA) saw its five-game home winning streak at the Pan American Center halted despite getting 31 points from Molly Kaiser and forcing Liberty into 18 second-half turnovers. The Aggies were dominated on the boards (32-18) and in bench points (28-12) while falling to Liberty for the fourth time in the last two seasons.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Bella Smuda – 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 6-6 FT; Jordan Hodges – 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists; Emma Hess – 13 points, 3 assists; Pien Steenbergen – 11 points, 3-4 3FG; Avery Mills – 8 points, 4 assists.
New Mexico State Individuals: Kaiser – 31 points, 3 assists, 10-11 FT; Jaila Harding – 10 points, 4-4 FT; Sylena Peterson – 9 points, 3 steals; Sianny Sanchez-Oliver – 8 points; Fanta Gassama – 6 points, 7 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: New Mexico State ended the contest at 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from beyond the arc and 80 percent (20-of-25) at the charity stripe. Even though Liberty committed more than twice as many turnovers as the Aggies (23 to 11), New Mexico State only enjoyed a 20-17 edge in points off turnovers. Liberty recorded all three of the game's blocked shots and scored 10 second-chance points off seven offensive boards.
Turning Point
Liberty led 29-25 after Harding's three-pointer swished through the net, 6:33 before halftime.
The Lady Flames then outscored the Aggies by a 17-7 count during the remainder of the half, sparked by five three-pointers. Steenbergen and Mills each hit two of the triples off the bench, helping Liberty push its lead out to 14 points (46-32) at the intermission.
New Mexico State could get no closer than nine for the remainder of the afternoon.
Game Summary
First Quarter
Liberty will tip off a three-game homestand with a Jan. 25 matchup against FIU (7-10, 3-3 CUSA) at 1 p.m. The day will feature a celebration of 50 years of Liberty women's basketball and the 20th anniversary of the Lady Flames' Sweet 16 team. The contest will air live on ESPN+.
Liberty, which improves to 12-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play with its fourth consecutive win, is a half game ahead of Middle Tennessee (4-1) atop the conference ledger. Saturday's victory saw four Lady Flames score in double figures as the visitors scorched the nets from the field (54.5 percent, 24-of-44), three-point range (55 percent, 11-of-20) and the foul line (88.5 percent, 23-of-26).
New Mexico State (10-8, 3-2 CUSA) saw its five-game home winning streak at the Pan American Center halted despite getting 31 points from Molly Kaiser and forcing Liberty into 18 second-half turnovers. The Aggies were dominated on the boards (32-18) and in bench points (28-12) while falling to Liberty for the fourth time in the last two seasons.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Bella Smuda – 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 6-6 FT; Jordan Hodges – 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists; Emma Hess – 13 points, 3 assists; Pien Steenbergen – 11 points, 3-4 3FG; Avery Mills – 8 points, 4 assists.
New Mexico State Individuals: Kaiser – 31 points, 3 assists, 10-11 FT; Jaila Harding – 10 points, 4-4 FT; Sylena Peterson – 9 points, 3 steals; Sianny Sanchez-Oliver – 8 points; Fanta Gassama – 6 points, 7 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: New Mexico State ended the contest at 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from beyond the arc and 80 percent (20-of-25) at the charity stripe. Even though Liberty committed more than twice as many turnovers as the Aggies (23 to 11), New Mexico State only enjoyed a 20-17 edge in points off turnovers. Liberty recorded all three of the game's blocked shots and scored 10 second-chance points off seven offensive boards.
Turning Point
Liberty led 29-25 after Harding's three-pointer swished through the net, 6:33 before halftime.
The Lady Flames then outscored the Aggies by a 17-7 count during the remainder of the half, sparked by five three-pointers. Steenbergen and Mills each hit two of the triples off the bench, helping Liberty push its lead out to 14 points (46-32) at the intermission.
New Mexico State could get no closer than nine for the remainder of the afternoon.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- The first 10 minutes saw four ties and four lead changes as the two teams combined to shoot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from the floor.
- Smuda tallied eight first-quarter points and Liberty knocked down three triples, helping the Lady Flames emerge from the high-octane period owning a 24-18 cushion.
- Liberty's lead reached 14 (46-32) by halftime thanks in large part to a 6-of-10 performance from long distance during the pivotal second period.
- Hodges made a pair of layups early in the second half, including one at the 7:00 mark which provided Liberty with its largest lead (52-34).
- Kaiser poured in 12 points during the third period, enabling New Mexico State to trim its deficit to a dozen (63-51) by the quarter's end.
- Liberty committed 10 of its turnovers during the final 10 minutes. But the Aggies were unable to complete a comeback, only shooting 30 percent (6-of-20) for the final stanza.
- The Lady Flames sealed victory by shooting 12-of-12 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and scoring their final 10 points from the stripe. That completed Liberty's perfect second half (18-of-18) at the free throw line.
- Smuda paced the Lady Flames with 14 points, setting season highs for free throws made (6) and attempted (6).
- Smuda's game-high two blocked shots give her 222 for her career, one behind Meribeth Feenstra for second place in program history.
- Hodges led all players with her season-high eight rebounds and scored in double digits for the second game in a row (13 points).
- Two days after joining the 1,000-point club at UTEP, Hess reached double figures (13 points) for the eighth time this season and 46th time in her career.
- Steenbergen's 11 points put the redshirt sophomore in double digits for the second time in 2024-25 and the seventh time in her career.
- Emmy Stout contributed six points and six rebounds in nine minutes off the bench, finishing the road swing with 17 points and 12 boards in 25 minutes.
- This marks the first time Liberty has owned sole possession of first place in the conference standings during its two years of CUSA membership.
- Liberty's 23 free throws made marked a season high and the Lady Flames' most since they hit 23 foul shots against Kennesaw State in an ASUN quarterfinal victory on March 7, 2020.
- The Lady Flames hit 10+ three-pointers for the seventh time this season.
- Liberty improves to 158-6 under Carey Green and 4-1 this year when shooting 50 percent or better from the field.
- New Mexico State was the 11th straight opponent the Lady Flames have held below 50 percent from the floor.
- The Lady Flames' 5-1 mark this January gives the team a 174-34 record during the month in 26 seasons under Green.
Liberty will tip off a three-game homestand with a Jan. 25 matchup against FIU (7-10, 3-3 CUSA) at 1 p.m. The day will feature a celebration of 50 years of Liberty women's basketball and the 20th anniversary of the Lady Flames' Sweet 16 team. The contest will air live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Lib
NMSU
FG%
.545
.411
3FG%
.550
.375
FT%
.885
.800
RB
32
18
TO
23
11
STL
1
11
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
C
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