WBB Game Day: New Mexico State

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (12-11, 6-6 CUSA) will play host to New Mexico State (8-16, 4-8 CUSA) on Saturday afternoon for a Valentine's Day clash at Liberty Arena.
The Lady Flames will look to complete a season sweep of the Aggies. Liberty rallied late to win 67-62 at New Mexico State in both teams' CUSA opener on Jan. 2. Avery Mills tallied 21 of her 25 points after halftime to lead the comeback, keeping the Lady Flames unbeaten all-time against the Aggies (6-0).
Liberty's wire-to-wire 58-48 triumph over UTEP on Thursday pushed the team's record to 3-1 this month. The Lady Flames are shooting 46.3 percent from beyond the arc in February and limiting opponents to 54.8 ppg.
Ify Nwaobi was named CUSA Freshman of the Week for the first time on Monday. She is seven boards away from becoming the first Liberty freshman to collect 200 rebounds since Keyen Green in 2016-17.
Fellow post player Emmy Stout paced all players in points (16) and rebounds (10) on Thursday for her fourth double-double of the season, tallying her 500th career point in the process. She posted 15 points and nine boards during the first matchup with New Mexico State.

Notes and Anecdotes

Liberty is 6-0 all-time against New Mexico State, matching UTEP for the Lady Flames' best record versus a CUSA foe. However, four of the six previous meetings have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including the last three in a row.
The Lady Flames will attempt to complete a two-game regular-season sweep of the Aggies. Liberty has gone 2-0 in CUSA play against an opponent 12 times since joining the conference, while going 0-2 just once (vs. MTSU in 2023-24).
With the CUSA Championship less than a month away, Liberty is currently tied with Delaware and Jax State for sixth place in the conference standings at 6-6 while New Mexico State sits 10th at 4-8. CUSA's top 10 teams will qualify for the tournament, with the top six going straight to the quarterfinal round.
The Lady Flames have won three of their last four, moving to 6-6 in CUSA play. They need to go 4-2 the rest of the way to record a 27th straight season with 10+ conference wins.
New Mexico State has been tough to beat in Las Cruces, headlined by wins over Missouri State and Sam Houston. However, the Aggies are just 2-11 away from home and bring a five-game road losing streak into Lynchburg.
Five Spaniards will be part of Saturday's contest, including three for New Mexico State and a pair of Lady Flames.

February is for the Flames

Liberty is off to a 3-1 start in its first four games this month.
The Lady Flames are shooting 46.3 percent from beyond the arc in February while holding opponents to 54.8 ppg. Individually, Ify Nwaobi is averaging 11.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 2.3 bpg.

Home Sweet Home

Despite owning a 2-3 record in CUSA home games this year, the Lady Flames are 41-6 all-time in conference games at Liberty Arena, including 24-1 in the ASUN and 17-5 in CUSA.
Liberty is 5-5 at home this season, pushing its all-time mark at Liberty Arena to 70-14.
The Lady Flames' 60-52 win over Missouri State on Feb. 1 snapped their first four-game home losing streak in Liberty Arena history.
Liberty will close out the regular season by playing four of its final six contests at Liberty Arena.

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 38-14 versus CUSA foes over the last three seasons, including 33-13 in conference play, 5-1 in the CUSA Championship, 17-5 at home and 16-8 on the road.
Liberty is unbeaten against each of this week's foes, New Mexico State (6-0) and UTEP (6-0).

Bombs Away!

Liberty set program records for three-pointers made (267) and three-point field goal percentage (36.9) last season. Despite losing 75.7 percent of their triples from 2024-25, the Lady Flames have been proficient from beyond the arc once again this year.
Liberty tops CUSA and ranks No. 20 nationally for three-point field goal percentage at 36.4. The Lady Flames have hit one more triple than their opponents this season (159 to 158) on 78 fewer attempts.

Schedule