WBB Game Day: No. 5 seed Louisiana Tech

Game Day Coverage

No. 1 seed Liberty vs. No. 5 seed Louisiana Tech (CUSA Semifinal - Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.)
Tipoff: Friday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern/5:30 p.m. Central
TV: ESPN+
Radio: LFSN Radio
Live Stats
Championship Central
Championship Ticket Information

Liberty Storylines

No. 1 seed Liberty (24-6, 16-2 CUSA) will face No. 5 seed Louisiana Tech (16-14, 8-10 CUSA) on Friday with a spot in the CUSA title game on the line.
Liberty is 3-1 all-time against the Lady Techsters. However, the one loss was a 67-66 setback in Ruston in the teams' most recent matchup on Feb. 6. Since then, the Lady Flames have won nine in a row to claim a share of the regular-season title and reach the conference tournament semifinal round for the 28th time in 29 years.
Liberty is attempting to return to its conference's championship game for the third year in a row and the 25th time in 29 seasons.
All-CUSA first team center Bella Smuda has scored in double digits in all four of her CUSA Championship outings, including a 10-point, 7-rebound, 4-block effort during Wednesday's 78-51 win over Sam Houston.
All-CUSA second team guard Asia Boone averaged a team-high 13.5 ppg in two regular-season meetings with the Lady Techsters. She has reached double figures in six consecutive games, including Wednesday's outing where all of her team-high 16 points came after halftime. Boone owns a career 16.0 ppg scoring average in the CUSA Championship.

Notes and Anecdotes

Louisiana Tech dealt Liberty its most recent loss, a 67-66 decision in Ruston on Feb. 6. Since then, the Lady Flames have won nine in a row.
During that game, the Lady Techsters shot 61.9 percent from the field, the highest by a Liberty opponent since Dec. 5, 1999, when Notre Dame shot 62.7 percent in Carey Green's fifth game as the Lady Flames' head coach.
As a result, LA Tech handed Liberty one of its two losses in nine games decided by 10 points or fewer this season. Three of four all-time meetings between the Lady Flames and Lady Techsters have been decided by single digits.
LA Tech outrebounded Liberty in both regular-season meetings. The Lady Flames are 21-0 when outrebounding opponents but 3-6 when losing the rebounding battle.
Friday's semifinal will feature 80 percent of the CUSA All-Freshman Team, including Liberty's Avery Mills and Emmy Stout and the LA Tech duo of Paris Bradley and Jordan Marshall. Bradley and Liberty's Asia Boone are the conference's last two freshmen of the year.
Liberty has won five straight games away from Lynchburg, improving to 11-5 in road/neutral contests this season. The Lady Techsters are just 3-11 when playing away from Ruston, but have won two such games within the past six days.

Tournament Tidbits

Liberty is the No. 1 seed for the first time in CUSA and the 17th time in program history. All previous occasions came in the Big South Conference, and the Lady Flames have won 15 titles in 16 appearances as the No. 1 seed (exception 2011).
Liberty is 45-1 in conference tournaments as the No. 1 seed and 64-3 (3-0 in CUSA) when favored according to seed.
Carey Green is 59-10 (3-1 in CUSA) coaching in conference tournament games.
Liberty brought a season-best eight-game winning streak to Huntsville. This is the 11th time the Lady Flames have won eight or more consecutive games to close the regular season. They have gone on to win their conference tournament on nine of the previous 10 occasions, with the exception coming in 2023 (ASUN Conference).
After advancing to the semifinal round of its conference tournament for the eighth straight year and the 28th time in the last 29 seasons, Liberty will seek its third consecutive championship game appearance and its 25th in the last 29 seasons.
Liberty has won 17 conference tournament championships (all in the Big South Conference) on the court, with the most recent coming in 2018. The Lady Flames were also awarded a share of the 2020 ASUN title (along with FGCU) after the final was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Liberty men's basketball team is also seeded No. 1 this week. This is the first time both Liberty squads have earned No. 1 seeds in the same year since 2004 (Big South).

Liberty's All-CUSA Honorees

All-CUSA First Team – Bella Smuda

All-CUSA Second Team – Asia Boone and Emma Hess

All-Defensive Team – Bella Smuda

All-Freshman Team – Avery Mills and Emmy Stout

All-Academic Team - Emma Hess

Liberty had the most total players recognized (five) of any CUSA squad.
The Lady Flames put two players on the All-Freshman Team for the second year in a row, following Elisabeth Aegisdottir and Asia Boone's selections in 2024.

On This Date

Liberty is 2-3 all-time when playing on March 14.
Fifteen years ago (March 14, 2010), Devon Brown's hoop with 4.2 seconds remaining gave Liberty a 68-66 victory over Gardner-Webb in the Big South Championship title game.
Liberty is 97-59 all-time in March, including 89-34 under Carey Green and 4-0 this season.

Schedule