WBB Game Day: UTEP

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (7-5, 1-0 CUSA) will seek its first-ever 2-0 CUSA start during a Sunday visit to UTEP (9-3, 1-0 CUSA), the team owning the conference's best overall record this season.
The Lady Flames used a 30-point fourth quarter and a late 11-0 run to come from behind and record a 67-62 win at New Mexico State in Friday's CUSA opener.
Liberty is 4-0 against UTEP over the last two seasons, with all four victories coming by 11 points or more.
The Lady Flames are playing away from home for the seventh time in eight games. Liberty has gone 4-2 during the challenging stretch thus far.
Avery Mills played a leading role in Friday's win in Las Cruces, scoring 21 of her career-high 25 points after halftime. The sophomore's fourth 20-point game of the year was the highest-scoring game by a Lady Flame this season. She ranks No. 12 nationally with 3.08 triples per game.
Emmy Stout's 15 points at New Mexico State put the sophomore in double figures for the 10th time in 12 contests this season. She tied for the team lead with nine rebounds, helping Liberty enjoy a 41-26 advantage on the boards.

Notes and Anecdotes

UTEP opened CUSA play with an 82-71 home win over Delaware on Friday, maintaining the best overall record in the conference (9-3) and closing in on the Miners' season total of 11 wins from 2024-25.
Sunday's Liberty-UTEP clash is one of two meetings between 1-0 CUSA squads (also Middle Tennessee at Jax State).
This will mark UTEP's 10th home game at the Don Haskins Center this season, where the Miners are 8-1. Conversely, Liberty will be playing away from home for the seventh time in the last eight outings and has only had one game at Liberty Arena since Thanksgiving.
Liberty is 4-0 versus UTEP over the last two seasons with all four wins coming by double digits. Current assistant Emma Hess has enjoyed two memorable visits to El Paso, breaking the Liberty single-season three-point record on March 2, 2024 and tallying her 1,000th point on Jan. 16, 2025.
Liberty (+11.1) and UTEP (+7.3) are CUSA's top two rebounding squads, while Lady Flame Avery Mills (37) and Miner Ivane Tensaie (35) rank 1-2 in CUSA for triples made.
Sunday will mark Liberty's last visit to UTEP for the foreseeable future with the Miners set to join the Mountain West Conference in 2026-27.

Friday Fireworks

Liberty opened CUSA play with a road win for the second year in a row with a 67-62 triumph at New Mexico State on Friday.
The Lady Flames trailed for 32:10 of the game but fashioned a 30-point fourth quarter and took the lead for good with a late 11-0 run.
Avery Mills scored 21 of her career-high 25 points after halftime, including eight during the 11-0 surge.

CUSA Checkup

Liberty has been successful during its first three years of CUSA membership, headlined by its regular-season and tournament titles in 2024-25.
The Lady Flames are 33-8 versus CUSA foes over the last three seasons, including 28-7 in conference play, 5-1 in the CUSA Championship, 15-2 at home and 13-5 on the road.
Liberty has faced four CUSA opponents without suffering a loss over the past three years, including Kennesaw State (2-0), New Mexico State (6-0), Sam Houston (5-0) and UTEP (4-0).
The Lady Flames are aiming for their first 2-0 conference start as a CUSA member.

Texas Two-Step

Liberty has won four straight games in Texas, improving to 7-10 all-time in the Lone Star State.
All seven of the Lady Flames' victories in Texas have come since the start of the 2020-21 season.

Schedule