WBB Game Day: NC State - Liberty University

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (2-0) will face its toughest test of the young 2026-27 season on Wednesday, visiting No. 25 NC State (2-1).
The Lady Flames are aiming for their first 3-0 start since the 2021-22 season. To achieve that, they will need to record their first-ever win over NC State, their first road victory over an ACC opponent since 2008 and (potentially, depending on Tuesday's coaches poll) their first triumph over a Top 25 opponent since 2005.
Liberty is coming off an impressive 82-49 win at East Carolina on Saturday, the program's first-ever road triumph over an American Conference foe. The Lady Flames posted their largest margin of victory in a road game since 2018.
Ify Nwaobi, one of Liberty's three Preseason All-CUSA honorees (along with frontcourt mates Sophia Gregory and Emmy Stout), paces the Lady Flames' balanced attack in scoring (12.0 ppg), rebounding (10.0 rpg) and blocked shots (2.5 bpg).
Liberty has also gotten strong production from its bench. Trinity Holsinger tallied 18 of the Lady Flames' 45 bench points at East Carolina on six triples, the most trifectas by a Liberty freshman since 2024.

Notes and Anecdotes

Wednesday's contest marks Liberty's first visit to an ACC arena since its Dec. 10, 2023 game at NC State. Each team boasts two current players who appeared in that contest, including the Lady Flames' Claudia Acin and Elisabeth Aegisdottir and NC State's Zoe Brooks (who posted a triple-double) and Maddie Cox.
Liberty is predicted for a third-place finish in CUSA. Meanwhile, NC State was picked fifth of 18 teams in the ACC after winning 21 games (including an NCAA Tournament first round contest vs. Tennessee) last season.
Liberty is in search of its first 3-0 start to a season since 2021-22, when the team began 3-0 on its way to a 28-5 campaign.
Defense has keyed the Lady Flames' fast start, as Liberty is forcing 24.5 turnovers per game and allowing only 39.5 points per outing. NC State is only turning the ball over 10.0 times per game and scores 79.3 points per contest.
Liberty is 1-0 to begin a four-game swing through North Carolina. It will take until Dec. 8 for the Lady Flames to play their fourth game in their home state of Virginia.
All four CUSA squads in action Wednesday are playing at Power 4 opponents, also including Kennesaw State at Georgia, WKU at Vanderbilt and Delaware at Wisconsin.

Lady Flames vs. Top 25

NC State entered the week ranked No. 25 in both the AP and coaches Top 25 polls.
Liberty has lost 44 consecutive matchups with Top 25 opponents since an 88-79 victory over No. 17/16 DePaul on March 22, 2005 sent the Lady Flames into the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. That also marked the highest-ranked team Liberty has defeated in program history.
Liberty has defeated four Top 25 foes all-time, with three of those victories coming during the 2004-05 season, the senior year of current assistant Katie (Feenstra) Mattera.
The Lady Flames own one Top 25 win over an ACC opponent. Liberty's first-ever Top 25 victory was a 77-69 home triumph over No. 23 Virginia in overtime on Nov. 26, 2002.

Lady Flames vs. ACC

Liberty is 5-35 all-time versus ACC opponents, with two of its victories coming against Virginia, two more versus Virginia Tech and one against Wake Forest. All five wins have come under former head coach Carey Green, and all five victories have taken place in Virginia (three at Liberty, one at Virginia and one at Virginia Tech).
This is the 13th time in the last 14 seasons Liberty has faced at least one ACC opponent.
The Lady Flames have lost nine straight road matchups with ACC foes since a 45-43 victory at Virginia Tech on Dec. 30, 2008.

Saturday Superlatives

Liberty's 82-49 win at East Carolina on Saturday marked the Lady Flames' first-ever road win over an American Conference foe and their largest margin of victory in any true road contest since Feb. 24, 2018 (95-57 at Charleston Southern).
The Lady Flames racked up 45 bench points to ECU's six, representing the team's most bench points since Dec. 11, 2024 (74 versus Randolph).
Trinity Holsinger accounted for 18 of those bench points on six three-pointers. It was the most triples by a Liberty freshman since March 2, 2024, when Asia Boone hit six at UTEP.

Schedule