WBB Game Day: Middle Tennessee

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (21-6, 14-2 CUSA) will host CUSA leader Middle Tennessee (23-6, 15-1 CUSA) on Thursday in a rematch of the 2024 CUSA title game.
Liberty can move into a share of the CUSA lead with a win on Thursday, and the Lady Flames would keep their hopes of attaining the No. 1 seed alive.
The Lady Flames have won six straight games overall and 11 in a row at Liberty Arena, where they are 37-3 all-time in conference games. However, they are 0-4 all-time against the Lady Raiders including a 69-41 loss in Murfreesboro on Jan. 4.
Thursday will mark Bella Smuda's Liberty-record 155th career appearance. She hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer during Saturday's 71-69 triumph at Kennesaw State and has posted two career double-doubles against Middle Tennessee.
Asia Boone has scored in double figures in each of her last three games, including a season-high 19-point effort Saturday at Kennesaw State.
Liberty's reserves rank No. 11 nationally with 28.3 bench points per game. The Lady Flames outscored the Lady Raiders in bench points, 19-0, during the Jan. 4 matchup in Murfreesboro.

Notes and Anecdotes

Numerous winning streaks will be at stake on Thursday. Liberty has won six straight games overall and 11 consecutive contests at Liberty Arena. Meanwhile, Middle Tennessee is riding an 11-game overall winning streak.
Middle Tennessee is the only current CUSA team Liberty has never defeated. The Lady Flames are 0-4 against the Lady Raiders and 26-4 against all other CUSA squads over the last two seasons.
Liberty will look to solve a Middle Tennessee defense which ranks No. 1 nationally for scoring defense (51.6 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (32.2). The Lady Flames were held to season lows for points (41) and field goal percentage (29.4) in Murfreesboro on Jan. 4. Liberty has never scored more than 55 points against Middle Tennessee.
The Lady Flames are 37-3 all-time in conference games at Liberty Arena (24-1 ASUN, 13-2 CUSA), with Middle Tennessee accounting for one of the losses.
Liberty's Carey Green and MTSU's Rick Insell both rank among the nation's top 20 active coaches for career winning percentage, combining for 1,072 career victories.
MTSU assistant coach Kim (Reeves) Brewton played three seasons at Liberty (1997-98 through 1999-2000). Her final year was Carey Green's first season as head coach.

Marquee Matchup

Thursday's rematch of the 2024 CUSA title game will feature the top two teams in this year's conference standings.
A Middle Tennessee victory would clinch its third straight CUSA regular-season title, while a Liberty triumph would keep the Lady Flames' hopes of attaining the No. 1 seed alive.
The Lady Flames and Lady Raiders boast a combined record of 44-12 this season. Only one of the 88 NCAA Division I women's basketball games played on Thursday will feature more combined victories. Norfolk State and Howard have won a total of 45 games in 2024-25.

Keys to the Streak

Liberty enters the week having won its last six games, marking its second winning streak of 5+ contests this season (also a seven-game streak between Jan. 9-Feb. 1).
The Lady Flames have won four of the six games by double digits, holding all but one opponent below 60 points.
Five different players have led the team in scoring during the current winning streak.

On This Date

Liberty is 4-3 all-time when playing on March 6.
The Lady Flames welcomed Middle Tennessee to Liberty Arena for the first time one year ago today (March 6, 2024). The Lady Raiders posted a 67-52 victory, becoming only the the third visiting conference team ever to win at Liberty Arena.
Liberty is 94-59 all-time in March, including 86-34 under Carey Green and 1-0 this season.

Schedule