WBB Game Day: Manhattan

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (4-2) will aim for its second win in as many days at the Navy Classic on Sunday, matching up with Manhattan (0-6) for the first time in 25 years.
Host Manhattan took the teams' only previous meeting by a 70-45 count, Dec. 29, 2000 at the Marriott Big Apple Classic.
Liberty has gone 2-0 at two of its previous three Navy Classic appearances (2009 and 2021). The Lady Flames have a chance to do it again on Sunday following a wire-to-wire 67-60 triumph over Duquesne on Saturday.
Avery Mills scored 12 of her team-high 18 points during the fourth quarter on Saturday, helping Liberty close out the victory. She has hit multiple three-pointers in every game this season and is riding a string of 26 straight made free throws.
Claudia Acin made an impressive return after missing the previous three games, dishing out a career-high 10 assists and committing only one turnover.
Liberty has outrebounded all six opponents this season and owns a +14.2 rebound margin. Redshirt freshman Ify Nwaobi pulled down a game-high 13 boards vs. Duquesne, equaling her career best.

Notes and Anecdotes

Liberty and Manhattan came out on the opposite end of seven-point decisions on Saturday. The Jaspers lost the day's opening game 59-52 to host Navy, while the Lady Flames followed with a wire-to-wire 67-60 triumph over Duquesne.
Liberty is predicted for a runner-up finish in CUSA, while Manhattan was picked seventh of 13 squads in the MAAC.
Manhattan went 16-15 a year ago, making the Jaspers one of 10 squads among Liberty's 11-team non-conference schedule which posted a winning record in 2024-25.
However, Manhattan is 0-6 to tip off the 2025-26 campaign. That makes the Jaspers Liberty's first opponent this year which has come into its matchup with the Lady Flames owning a losing record.
Both teams feature a pair of players from Spain, including Liberty's Claudia Acin and Emma Leon and Manhattan's Agar Farres Garcia and Elisa Sole Sanchez.
Each team boasts a first-year player averaging double-digit rebounds this year. Liberty redshirt freshman Ify Nwaobi is pulling down 10.5 rpg while Manhattan's Agar Farres Garcia (a transfer from Florida Memorial) is at 10.8 rpg.
Liberty is seeking its first five-win November since 2021-22, the last time it played in the Navy Classic.

Lady Flames vs. MAAC

Liberty is 5-4 all-time against MAAC opponents, including 2-1 in neutral-site matchups.
Sunday will mark the Lady Flames' first matchup with a MAAC foe since Dec. 29, 2006. That day, Liberty lost 76-43 to Marist at the Maryland Terrapin Classic in College Park, Md. Later that season, Marist joined Liberty (2005) as the two most recent No. 13 seeds to reach the NCAA Sweet 16.
Since Liberty's last meeting with Manhattan (Dec. 29, 2000), the Lady Flames have won four of five matchups with MAAC foes. Three of those victories came against Loyola (Md.).
Last season, Liberty and MAAC champion Fairfield were both sent to Lexington, Ky., for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. However, both squads dropped their opening game.

Navy Classic Notes

The Lady Flames are making their fourth Navy Classic appearance, following previous visits to Annapolis in 2009, 2016 and 2021.
Liberty is 5-2 all-time at the Navy Classic, going 2-0 in both 2009 and 2021.
The Lady Flames' most recent Navy Classic appearance was memorable. They defeated Navy and Bowling Green on Nov. 27 and 28, 2021, with the latter victory marking career win No. 500 for Carey Green.

Tournament Time

The Navy Classic is the first of two regular-season tournaments on Liberty's schedule. The Lady Flames will close out non-conference play with a pair of games at the Maui Classic, Dec. 19-20 in Makawao, Hawai'i.
No official tournament champion will be crowned in either Annapolis or Makawao, with both events featuring predetermined matchups.
Liberty is looking to go 2-0 at a regular-season tournament for the first time since the 2022 Husky Classic (Dec. 18-19, 2022). The Lady Flames topped host Washington and SIUE to return from Seattle with a pair of victories.

Schedule