Thursday, January 22
Bowling Green, Ky.
7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT
Liberty University
9-8,3-3CUSA
55
at
53
Western Kentucky
5-13,1-6CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Liberty
17
16
3
19
55
Western Ky.
10
13
13
17
53
Avery Mills celebrates what proved to be the game-winning three-pointer.
Liberty Pulls Out Dramatic 55-53 Win at WKU
1/22/2026 10:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Liberty's Avery Mills hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 9.1 seconds remaining and JaKayla Thompson stole the final inbounds pass, enabling the Lady Flames to pull out a thrilling 55-53 win at Western Kentucky, Thursday evening inside E.A. Diddle Arena.
Liberty (9-8, 3-3 CUSA) snapped a three-game losing streak by posting its fifth consecutive head-to-head win over the Lady Toppers. Emmy Stout (19 points, 11 rebounds) tallied eight fourth-quarter points, helping the Lady Flames bounce back from an 0-for-13 shooting start to the second half to win.
WKU drops to 5-13 overall and 1-6 in CUSA action despite a huge second half by Salma Khedr. She tallied 16 of her team-high 18 points in the second half, enabling her team to erase a 10-point halftime deficit. Her triple with a minute to play put the Lady Toppers in front 53-52, setting the stage for Mills' heroics at the other end.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Mills – 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4-8 3FG; Elisabeth Aegisdottir – 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2-5 3FG; Thompson – 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals; Claudia Acin – 6 points, 7 assists
Other Western Kentucky Individuals: Zsofia Telegdy – 13 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals; Torri James – 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks; Trinity Rowe – 6 points, 6 assists.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field, 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from beyond the arc and 88.9 percent (8-of-9) from the foul line. WKU ended up at 40 percent (20-of-50) from the field, 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from long range and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from the charity stripe. Liberty won the rebounding battle (38-31), but the Lady Toppers had the upper hand in points in the paint (28-24) and second-chance points (8-6). The game featured only five total bench points, with WKU tallying four of the five.
Turning Point
Liberty led 33-23 at halftime but shot 0-of-11 from the field during a three-point third quarter. As a result, WKU tied the score at 36-all heading to the fourth.
The final period saw two ties and four lead changes.
Mills' driving layup with 2:09 left put the visiting Lady Flames in front by five, 52-47.
But WKU answered with triples from Telegdy and Khedr on its next two possessions to retake the advantage, 53-52.
The two teams exchanged turnovers before Mills connected on a contested triple from the left wing, directly in front of her team's bench. The game-winning triple was reminiscent of her game-tying trifecta during the closing seconds at George Mason on Dec. 7.
Thompson stole the inbounds pass on WKU's final attempt at tying the game or winning it, enabling the Lady Flames to improve to 3-0 in games decided by five points or fewer.
Notes and Nuggets
The Lady Flames will have a quick turnaround, closing out their road swing at Middle Tennessee (10-9, 5-2 CUSA) on Friday for a rematch of the CUSA title game. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern at the Murphy Center, and the contest will air on ESPN+.
CUSA Championship Ticket Information
Ticket packages for the 2026 CUSA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are now on sale. Both the Flames and Lady Flames will look to defend their conference tournament titles at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala., March 10-14.
Fans can purchase an all-session booklet through the Liberty Ticket Office for $175, a savings of $25. This includes tickets to all nine men's games and all nine women's games throughout the tournament. To purchase tickets and find more information, please visit http://www.libertyflames.com/CUSABasketball.
Students will be able to purchase tickets for the tournaments on a session-to-session basis. These may be purchased at Propst Arena with a valid student ID (of a CUSA school) for half the price of the current day's session.
Liberty (9-8, 3-3 CUSA) snapped a three-game losing streak by posting its fifth consecutive head-to-head win over the Lady Toppers. Emmy Stout (19 points, 11 rebounds) tallied eight fourth-quarter points, helping the Lady Flames bounce back from an 0-for-13 shooting start to the second half to win.
WKU drops to 5-13 overall and 1-6 in CUSA action despite a huge second half by Salma Khedr. She tallied 16 of her team-high 18 points in the second half, enabling her team to erase a 10-point halftime deficit. Her triple with a minute to play put the Lady Toppers in front 53-52, setting the stage for Mills' heroics at the other end.
I think we've seen her do this before! #XIV
— Liberty Women's Basketball (@LibertyWBB) January 23, 2026
?? @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/DPiGVDLEJa
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: Mills – 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4-8 3FG; Elisabeth Aegisdottir – 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2-5 3FG; Thompson – 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals; Claudia Acin – 6 points, 7 assists
Other Western Kentucky Individuals: Zsofia Telegdy – 13 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals; Torri James – 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks; Trinity Rowe – 6 points, 6 assists.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field, 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from beyond the arc and 88.9 percent (8-of-9) from the foul line. WKU ended up at 40 percent (20-of-50) from the field, 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from long range and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from the charity stripe. Liberty won the rebounding battle (38-31), but the Lady Toppers had the upper hand in points in the paint (28-24) and second-chance points (8-6). The game featured only five total bench points, with WKU tallying four of the five.
Turning Point
Liberty led 33-23 at halftime but shot 0-of-11 from the field during a three-point third quarter. As a result, WKU tied the score at 36-all heading to the fourth.
The final period saw two ties and four lead changes.
Mills' driving layup with 2:09 left put the visiting Lady Flames in front by five, 52-47.
But WKU answered with triples from Telegdy and Khedr on its next two possessions to retake the advantage, 53-52.
The two teams exchanged turnovers before Mills connected on a contested triple from the left wing, directly in front of her team's bench. The game-winning triple was reminiscent of her game-tying trifecta during the closing seconds at George Mason on Dec. 7.
Thompson stole the inbounds pass on WKU's final attempt at tying the game or winning it, enabling the Lady Flames to improve to 3-0 in games decided by five points or fewer.
Notes and Nuggets
- Stout narrowly missed reaching the 20-point mark for the third game in a row, finishing with a game-high 19. She knocked down her first career triple to beat the first-quarter buzzer and equaled her season high of 11 boards. Stout's double-double was the sophomore's third this season and the fourth of her career.
- Mills (14 points) scored in double figures for the seventh game in a row and the 15th time in 17 contests this season. Her four triples give her 96 for her career, moving her past Genie Stinnett and into 17th place in program history.
- Acin posted four of her game-high seven assists during the fourth quarter and finished the night with only one turnover in 33 minutes.
- Liberty missed its first 13 field goal attempts of the second half, going 11:30 before JaKayla Thompson broke the drought with a layup at 8:30 of the fourth quarter.
- The Lady Flames' three points in the third quarter were just one more than their all-time low for points in a period (two vs. Duke on Nov. 11, 2016 and vs. Towson on Dec. 4, 2023).
- Liberty improves to 3-1 in CUSA road games this season and 4-0 all-time at E.A. Diddle Arena.
- The Lady Flames are now 5-1 versus WKU since joining CUSA, but five of the six games have been decided by single digits.
The Lady Flames will have a quick turnaround, closing out their road swing at Middle Tennessee (10-9, 5-2 CUSA) on Friday for a rematch of the CUSA title game. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern at the Murphy Center, and the contest will air on ESPN+.
CUSA Championship Ticket Information
Ticket packages for the 2026 CUSA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are now on sale. Both the Flames and Lady Flames will look to defend their conference tournament titles at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala., March 10-14.
Fans can purchase an all-session booklet through the Liberty Ticket Office for $175, a savings of $25. This includes tickets to all nine men's games and all nine women's games throughout the tournament. To purchase tickets and find more information, please visit http://www.libertyflames.com/CUSABasketball.
Students will be able to purchase tickets for the tournaments on a session-to-session basis. These may be purchased at Propst Arena with a valid student ID (of a CUSA school) for half the price of the current day's session.
Team Stats
Lib
WestKy
FG%
.351
.400
3FG%
.292
.286
FT%
.889
.636
RB
38
31
TO
14
13
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballLiberty Women's Basketball Show with Alexis Sherard and Maleah Alexander (1-21-26)
Thursday, January 22
The Sherard Family: On the Court and on the Track
Wednesday, January 21
Liberty Women's Basketball Show with Alexis Sherard and Elisabeth Aegisdottir (1-15-26)
Thursday, January 15
Bella Smuda: Experiencing Life as a Pro
Wednesday, January 14