Thursday, March 6
Lynchburg, Va.
7:00 PM ET
Liberty University
22-6,15-2CUSA
61
vs
42
Middle Tennessee
23-7,15-2CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Middle Tenn.
8
6
6
22
42
Liberty
14
16
19
12
61
Bella Smuda posted 21 points and 10 rebounds on the night she set Liberty's career games played record.
Liberty Stymies Middle Tennessee 61-42 for Share of CUSA Lead
3/6/2025 10:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Middle Tennessee entered Thursday evening's contest at Liberty Arena as the nation's top-ranked defensive squad. However, it was the Lady Flames who used a stifling defensive effort to produce a 61-42 victory. Liberty's first-ever win over the Blue Raiders puts the two teams into a first-place tie atop the CUSA standings.
Liberty (23-6, 15-2 CUSA) avenged a 69-41 setback at Middle Tennessee from Jan. 4 and claimed its first victory in five all-time matchups with the Blue Raiders. Bella Smuda, who set a program record with her 155th career game played, led all players in points (21) and rebounds (10). The Lady Flames have won seven straight games overall and 12 in a row at Liberty Arena heading into Saturday's regular-season finale vs. Western Kentucky.
Middle Tennessee (23-7, 15-2 CUSA) saw its 11-game winning streak halted after managing a season-low 42 points. The Blue Raiders trailed by as many as 33 points and scored only 20 during the first three quarters.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Asia Boone – 10 points, 2-4 3FG; Emma Hess – 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists; Jordan Hodges – 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2-4 3FG.
Middle Tennessee Individuals: Anastasiia Boldyreva – 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks; Courtney Blakely – 11 points, 5 assists, 5 steals; Jalynn Gregory – 9 points.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot better than the Blue Raiders from the field (40.7 percent to 31.3 percent), three-point range (26.1 percent to 9.1 percent) and the foul line (91.7 percent to 68.8 percent). Middle Tennessee only made one three-pointer in 11 tries. The Lady Flames won the rebounding battle (39-25) after being outrebounded in Murfreesboro earlier this season. Middle Tennessee turned Liberty's 16 turnovers into 14 points. Liberty tallied 11 bench points to the Blue Raiders' two.
Turning Point
Liberty foreshadowed the rest of the game with its play at the defensive end from the outset.
The Lady Flames held Middle Tennessee to one made field goal in the contest's first 9:14, building an early 14-4 advantage.
Liberty, which had never led the Blue Raiders by more than five points and had led for a total of 18:03 during the teams' first four matchups, never trailed on Thursday.
Game Summary
First Quarter
For the second year in a row, Liberty will close out its regular-season schedule by facing Western Kentucky (22-7, 13-4 CUSA). Tipoff is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Liberty Arena, and the matinee will air on ESPN+.
A victory would give Liberty at least a share of its first CUSA regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for next week's CUSA Women's Basketball Championship. The Lady Flames have not claimed a regular-season title since the 2017-18 season, their final year of Big South Conference play.
Liberty (23-6, 15-2 CUSA) avenged a 69-41 setback at Middle Tennessee from Jan. 4 and claimed its first victory in five all-time matchups with the Blue Raiders. Bella Smuda, who set a program record with her 155th career game played, led all players in points (21) and rebounds (10). The Lady Flames have won seven straight games overall and 12 in a row at Liberty Arena heading into Saturday's regular-season finale vs. Western Kentucky.
Middle Tennessee (23-7, 15-2 CUSA) saw its 11-game winning streak halted after managing a season-low 42 points. The Blue Raiders trailed by as many as 33 points and scored only 20 during the first three quarters.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Asia Boone – 10 points, 2-4 3FG; Emma Hess – 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists; Jordan Hodges – 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2-4 3FG.
Middle Tennessee Individuals: Anastasiia Boldyreva – 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks; Courtney Blakely – 11 points, 5 assists, 5 steals; Jalynn Gregory – 9 points.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot better than the Blue Raiders from the field (40.7 percent to 31.3 percent), three-point range (26.1 percent to 9.1 percent) and the foul line (91.7 percent to 68.8 percent). Middle Tennessee only made one three-pointer in 11 tries. The Lady Flames won the rebounding battle (39-25) after being outrebounded in Murfreesboro earlier this season. Middle Tennessee turned Liberty's 16 turnovers into 14 points. Liberty tallied 11 bench points to the Blue Raiders' two.
Turning Point
Liberty foreshadowed the rest of the game with its play at the defensive end from the outset.
The Lady Flames held Middle Tennessee to one made field goal in the contest's first 9:14, building an early 14-4 advantage.
Liberty, which had never led the Blue Raiders by more than five points and had led for a total of 18:03 during the teams' first four matchups, never trailed on Thursday.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- Liberty took a pair of 10-point leads during the first quarter before two late layups trimmed Middle Tennessee's deficit to 14-6.
- Seniors scored all but two of the Lady Flames' points during a second period where the home team outscored Middle Tennessee, 16-6.
- The Blue Raiders shot only 20 percent (3-of-15) for the quarter and trailed 30-14 at the intermission. It was a complete role reversal after Middle Tennessee had taken a 16-point lead (33-17) into the locker room during the teams' first meeting this year.
- Smuda single-handedly matched Middle Tennessee's six points during the third period, and Liberty's advantage extended to 29 points (49-20) heading to the final 10 minutes.
- Three more hoops by Smuda and three free throws by Hess gave Liberty its largest lead (33 points, 58-25) with 7:04 to play.
- The Blue Raiders answered with a 15-1 run to make the final score more respectable, but still suffered their worst CUSA loss since March 4, 2021 (72-49 home setback to Marshall).
- Smuda's 155 games played breaks the previous record of 154 set by former teammate Mya Berkman.
- Smuda recorded her sixth double-double of the season, the 26th of her career and her third in five meetings with the Blue Raiders. She is now in sole possession of fifth place in program history for career double-doubles.
- Smuda also moved into fourth place in program history for both rebounds (962) and defensive rebounds (620).
- Boone (10 points) scored in double digits for the fourth game in a row.
- Hess moved past Pam Wilder for 18th place on Liberty's career scoring the list. Her eight points on Thursday give her 1,123 for her career.
- Liberty improves to 64-9 at Liberty Arena, including 38-3 in conference games.
- The Lady Flames are 19-0 this season when outrebounding their opponent.
For the second year in a row, Liberty will close out its regular-season schedule by facing Western Kentucky (22-7, 13-4 CUSA). Tipoff is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Liberty Arena, and the matinee will air on ESPN+.
A victory would give Liberty at least a share of its first CUSA regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for next week's CUSA Women's Basketball Championship. The Lady Flames have not claimed a regular-season title since the 2017-18 season, their final year of Big South Conference play.
Team Stats
MTSU
Lib
FG%
.313
.407
3FG%
.091
.261
FT%
.688
.917
RB
25
39
TO
13
16
STL
9
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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