Tuesday, November 4
Lynchburg, Va.
7:00 PM ET
Liberty University
78
vs
49
Frostburg State
Alexis Sherard celebrated a successful head coaching debut on Tuesday.
Liberty Tops Frostburg State 78-49 in Sherard’s Debut as Head Coach
11/4/2025 10:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – A new-look Liberty women's basketball team tipped off its 2025-26 season by using a familiar winning formula, Tuesday evening at Liberty Arena. Strong post play fueled the Lady Flames' 78-49 victory over Frostburg State, giving Alexis Sherard a win in his first game as head coach.
The defending CUSA champion Lady Flames start the year at 1-0 for the third consecutive season after outrebounding the Bobcats, 46-25. Emmy Stout recorded a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) and began a 21-0 second quarter run that broke the game open.
Sherard made his debut on Tuesday after assisting Carey Green during the last 18 of his 26 seasons as the Lady Flames' head coach. He was one of many new faces on the Liberty bench, with seven of the 11 players in uniform making their first appearances in a Lady Flames uniform.
Frostburg State classified the game as an exhibition and has yet to officially open its campaign. Ayla Hileman tallied a team-high 16 points, shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Avery Mills – 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2-10 3FG; Claudia Acin – 9 points, 4 assists, 3-7 3FG; JaKayla Thompson – 9 points; Lydie Mwamba – 9 points; Lynn Peters – 8 points; Ify Nwaobi – 5 points, 9 rebounds.
Other Frostburg State Individuals: Julie Spinelli – 15 points; Sophie Nichols – 8 points, 2-7 3FG.
Key Team Stats: Liberty finished at 42.6 percent (29-of-68) from the field despite shooting just 26.7 percent (8-of-30) from beyond the arc. Frostburg State countered at 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the floor and 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from long distance. Liberty got to the foul line 12 more times than the visitors, shooting 75 percent (12-of-16) while the Bobcats were 4-of-4. The Lady Flames dominated the points in the paint category (40-12) and turned 21 offensive boards into 20 second-chance points. Liberty scored 26 points off the Bobcats' 21 turnovers while committing only 12 miscues of its own. The Lady Flames racked up 34 bench points.
Turning Point
Hileman scored the first five points of the second quarter, producing the fifth tie score of the early going (19-19) at the 8:54 mark.
Liberty then went on its aforementioned 21-0 run over the next 7:34. Lynn Peters' first six career points came during the extended surge, which ended with the Lady Flames building a 40-19 advantage shortly before halftime.
The lead remained in double digits for the remainder of the night.
Notes and Nuggets
The Lady Flames will remain at home for a Friday matinee against East Carolina (1-0). Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will air on ESPN+.
The defending CUSA champion Lady Flames start the year at 1-0 for the third consecutive season after outrebounding the Bobcats, 46-25. Emmy Stout recorded a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) and began a 21-0 second quarter run that broke the game open.
Sherard made his debut on Tuesday after assisting Carey Green during the last 18 of his 26 seasons as the Lady Flames' head coach. He was one of many new faces on the Liberty bench, with seven of the 11 players in uniform making their first appearances in a Lady Flames uniform.
Frostburg State classified the game as an exhibition and has yet to officially open its campaign. Ayla Hileman tallied a team-high 16 points, shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Avery Mills – 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2-10 3FG; Claudia Acin – 9 points, 4 assists, 3-7 3FG; JaKayla Thompson – 9 points; Lydie Mwamba – 9 points; Lynn Peters – 8 points; Ify Nwaobi – 5 points, 9 rebounds.
Other Frostburg State Individuals: Julie Spinelli – 15 points; Sophie Nichols – 8 points, 2-7 3FG.
Key Team Stats: Liberty finished at 42.6 percent (29-of-68) from the field despite shooting just 26.7 percent (8-of-30) from beyond the arc. Frostburg State countered at 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the floor and 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from long distance. Liberty got to the foul line 12 more times than the visitors, shooting 75 percent (12-of-16) while the Bobcats were 4-of-4. The Lady Flames dominated the points in the paint category (40-12) and turned 21 offensive boards into 20 second-chance points. Liberty scored 26 points off the Bobcats' 21 turnovers while committing only 12 miscues of its own. The Lady Flames racked up 34 bench points.
Turning Point
Hileman scored the first five points of the second quarter, producing the fifth tie score of the early going (19-19) at the 8:54 mark.
Liberty then went on its aforementioned 21-0 run over the next 7:34. Lynn Peters' first six career points came during the extended surge, which ended with the Lady Flames building a 40-19 advantage shortly before halftime.
The lead remained in double digits for the remainder of the night.
Notes and Nuggets
- Stout, who paced the Lady Flames in points (16) and rebounds (11), recorded her second career double-double and her first since her first collegiate appearance (Dec. 11, 2024 vs. Randolph.)
- Fellow CUSA All-Freshman Team member Mills' 10 points marked her 10th career game scoring in double figures.
- Acin hit a career-best and team-high three triples while matching her career high of nine points.
- Fellow point guard Thompson also equaled her career high of nine points, which came during her time at Boston College.
- New Mexico transfer Mwamba, the lone senior on Liberty's roster, scored a career-high nine points on the evening.
- All 11 Lady Flames scored points during the game, with Nwaobi, Peters, Maleah Alexander, Zeynep Avci and Emma Leon all finding the scoring column for the first time in their collegiate careers.
- Stout, Mills, Acin and Nwaobi all started for the first time on Tuesday.
- Liberty opened the season with a win over Frostburg State for the second time in the last three years.
- Tuesday's game matched Liberty's earliest start to a season in program history. The Lady Flames also tipped off on Nov. 4 a year ago, when Liberty defeated Valparaiso 77-58.
- The Lady Flames played their 75th game all-time at Liberty Arena, improving to 66-9. Tuesday's win was their 14th in a row at the facility.
- Sherard became the third of Liberty's seven all-time head coaches to win his debut, joining the program's first head coach (Brenda Bonheim in 1975-76) and Mike Goad (1986-87).
The Lady Flames will remain at home for a Friday matinee against East Carolina (1-0). Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will air on ESPN+.
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