Friday, March 21
Lexington, Ky.
12:00 PM ET
Liberty University
26-7,16-2CUSA
78
at
79
Kentucky
23-7,11-5SEC
1
2
3
4
F
Liberty
14
20
16
28
78
Kentucky
23
21
20
15
79
Freshman Emmy Stout scored a team-high 20 points for the Lady Flames.
Kentucky Withstands Liberty’s Furious Comeback for 79-78 NCAA 1st Round Win
3/21/2025 4:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trailing host and No. 4 seed Kentucky by 17 points early in the fourth quarter, No. 13 seed Liberty rallied to pull within one on three occasions, including the 79-78 final score of Friday afternoon's NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship battle at Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of its NCAA Sweet 16 run in 2005, Liberty (26-7) nearly posted its first NCAA Tournament victory since then. However, the Lady Flames had to settle for the closest setback among its 20 NCAA Tournament contests in program history, one which halted the CUSA regular-season and tournament champions' 11-game winning streak and season.
Continuing the theme of 20, freshman Emmy Stout paced four Lady Flames in double figures with 20 points, eight of which came during the frenetic final period when Liberty outscored the Wildcats, 28-15.
Led by Georgia Amoore (34 points, 8 assists, 6-10 3FG), Kentucky (23-7) advances to a second round matchup with No. 5 seed Kansas State on Sunday at Historic Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats knocked down 12 triples at a 41.4 percent clip and blocked 12 Liberty shot attempts.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Stout – 20 points, 6-7 FG, 8-11 FT; Emma Hess – 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3-7 3FG; Smuda – 14 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks; Jordan Hodges – 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists.
Other Kentucky Individuals: Dazia Lawrence – 16 points, 3-9 3FG; Clara Strack – 15 points, 10 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: After a slow start, Liberty ended up at 46 percent (29-of-63) from the field and 35 percent (7-of-20) from three-point range. The Lady Flames fared well around the basket, scoring 40 points in the paint to Kentucky's 24, outrebounding the home team 41-32 and turning 18 offensive boards into 23 second-chance points. Liberty committed twice as many turnovers as Kentucky (14-7), leading to 15 points for the Wildcats. Continuing a season-long strength, the Lady Flames' reserves scored 28 points to two for Kentucky.
Turning Point
Kentucky's Amelia Hassett opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a three-pointer, giving the home team its largest lead at 67-50 with 9:36 left.
Liberty then outscored the Wildcats 23-7 over the next 8:22, pulling within 74-73 on an Avery Mills triple with 1:14 left.
But Amoore responded with a layup at the other end and hit 3-of-4 free throws over the final 10 seconds to keep Liberty at bay.
Game Summary
First Quarter
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of its NCAA Sweet 16 run in 2005, Liberty (26-7) nearly posted its first NCAA Tournament victory since then. However, the Lady Flames had to settle for the closest setback among its 20 NCAA Tournament contests in program history, one which halted the CUSA regular-season and tournament champions' 11-game winning streak and season.
Continuing the theme of 20, freshman Emmy Stout paced four Lady Flames in double figures with 20 points, eight of which came during the frenetic final period when Liberty outscored the Wildcats, 28-15.
Led by Georgia Amoore (34 points, 8 assists, 6-10 3FG), Kentucky (23-7) advances to a second round matchup with No. 5 seed Kansas State on Sunday at Historic Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats knocked down 12 triples at a 41.4 percent clip and blocked 12 Liberty shot attempts.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Stout – 20 points, 6-7 FG, 8-11 FT; Emma Hess – 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3-7 3FG; Smuda – 14 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks; Jordan Hodges – 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists.
Other Kentucky Individuals: Dazia Lawrence – 16 points, 3-9 3FG; Clara Strack – 15 points, 10 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: After a slow start, Liberty ended up at 46 percent (29-of-63) from the field and 35 percent (7-of-20) from three-point range. The Lady Flames fared well around the basket, scoring 40 points in the paint to Kentucky's 24, outrebounding the home team 41-32 and turning 18 offensive boards into 23 second-chance points. Liberty committed twice as many turnovers as Kentucky (14-7), leading to 15 points for the Wildcats. Continuing a season-long strength, the Lady Flames' reserves scored 28 points to two for Kentucky.
Turning Point
Kentucky's Amelia Hassett opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a three-pointer, giving the home team its largest lead at 67-50 with 9:36 left.
Liberty then outscored the Wildcats 23-7 over the next 8:22, pulling within 74-73 on an Avery Mills triple with 1:14 left.
But Amoore responded with a layup at the other end and hit 3-of-4 free throws over the final 10 seconds to keep Liberty at bay.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- Kentucky led 23-14 after a first quarter where Amoore scored 15 points by herself.
- Liberty shot just 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) from the field and 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) from the line during the first 10 minutes of its first NCAA contest since 2018.
- Emma Hess posted nine points and three boards for the Lady Flames during the second stanza.
- However, Kentucky took a 44-34 lead into the intermission following a 23-point opening half by Amoore.
- Clara Strack got going for the Wildcats in the third quarter, posting seven points and five boards as Kentucky built a 64-50 advantage.
- Liberty flourished in the fourth quarter, shooting 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) from the field, 3-of-5 (60 percent) from beyond the arc and 5-of-5 (100 percent) from the foul line. The Lady Flames also outrebounded the Wildcats, 13-4.
- However, Liberty lost for just the second time in seven games decided by five points or fewer this season.
- Stout's 20 points where the freshman's most since scoring 23 in her collegiate debut against Randolph on Dec. 11.
- Stout became the first Liberty true freshman to score 20 points in an NCAA Tournament game and the sixth Lady Flame to post a 20-point contest during March Madness.
- Hess, who made her 100th career start on Friday, matched her season high of seven rebounds to go along with her 17 points.
- Hess' three triples give her a final career total of 224, just three off the Liberty all-time record. She ends up 13th in program history with 1,183 career points.
- Smuda (14 points, 12 rebounds) recorded her eighth double-double of the season and the 28th of her career. She notched Liberty's sixth double-double in NCAA Tournament history and the first since Ashley Rininger in 2015 against North Carolina.
- Smuda's game-high 12 rebounds give her 1,001 for her career, making her the fourth Lady Flame ever to grab 1,000 boards.
- Smuda made her NCAA Tournament debut on Friday in her 160th game in a Liberty uniform. She leaves Liberty ranked No. 1 all-time for games played, No. 2 for blocked shots (253), No. 4 for rebounds (1,001), No. 5 for double-doubles (28) and No. 6 for points (1,544).
- Hodges punctuated her career with a 13-point effort, marking her most points since scoring 13 at New Mexico State on Jan. 18. She finishes her career No. 50 on Liberty's all-time scoring list with 659 points and tied with Mickayla Sanders for No. 14 on the made three-pointers chart (102).
- Prior to Friday, none of Liberty's players had ever appeared in an NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship game.
- Liberty's seven triples on Friday tied the most the Lady Flames have ever hit in an NCAA Tournament game (also 1998 vs. Tennessee). The Lady Flames end the year with a program-record 267 triples.
- As a team, Liberty ended up with program records for single-season three-point field goal percentage (36.9) and free throw percentage (75.6).
- The Lady Flames lost for the first time this season when outrebounding their opponent. Liberty had been 23-0 when doing so prior to Friday.
- Liberty, which was also seeded No. 13 for its Sweet 16 season in 2005, very nearly became just the second No. 13 seed ever to top a No. 4 seed on the road in NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship. Rice over UC Santa Barbara in 2000 remains the only such occurrence in tournament history.
- The Lady Flames' NCAA Tournament losses to Kentucky (also an 83-77 setback in 2010) rank as two of the team's three tightest setbacks in tournament history.
- Liberty is now 2-18 in 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, all of which have come since 1997.
Team Stats
Lib
UK
FG%
.460
.418
3FG%
.350
.414
FT%
.722
.846
RB
41
32
TO
14
7
STL
2
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
8
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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