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Thursday, February 19
Springfield, Mo.
7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT
Liberty University
14-11,8-6CUSA
55
at
43
Missouri State
15-11,7-6CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Liberty
12
12
18
13
55
Missouri St.
11
13
4
15
43
Emmy Stout scored a team-high 15 points during Thursday's 55-43 victory at Missouri State.
Liberty Stifles Missouri State for 55-43 Road Victory
2/19/2026 10:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – For the third consecutive outing, Liberty held its opponent below 50 points and won the game, Thursday evening at Missouri State. The Lady Flames broke things open with an 18-4 third quarter advantage and limited the Lady Bears to a season-low scoring output in a 55-43 win at Great Southern Bank Arena.
Liberty (14-11, 8-6 CUSA) completes a season sweep of CUSA newcomer Missouri State and improves to 5-1 in February. The post duo of Emmy Stout (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Ify Nwaobi (8 points, game-high 12 rebounds) led the way to the Lady Flames' second triumph over the Lady Bears in 19 days.
Missouri State (15-11, 7-6 CUSA) falls a half-game behind the Lady Flames in the CUSA standings after losing just its second conference home game this year and its third consecutive contest overall. Leading scorer Kaemyn Bekemeier went for a game-high 19 points but shot just 5-of-18 from the field, part of her team's 25 percent (13-of-52) evening from the field.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: JaKayla Thompson – 10 points, 3 assists; Claudia Acin – 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; Elisabeth Aegisdottir – 5 points, 8 rebounds.
Other Missouri State Individuals: Faith Lee – 6 points; Kenda Brueggen – 5 points; Maiesha Washington – 3 points, 11 rebounds; Maycee James – 2 points, 5 steals.
Key Team Stats: Liberty finished just under its season average from the floor, connecting on 21-of-50 for a 42 percent clip. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, with the Lady Flames shooting 20 percent (2-of-10) and the Lady Bears hitting 15 percent (3-of-20). Missouri State had the edge at the foul line, knocking down 87.5 percent (14-of-16) to Liberty's 57.9 percent (11-of-19). Liberty controlled the interior, as evidenced by the rebounding (37-33), points in the paint (28-20) and second-chance points (9-8) categories. All eight Lady Flames who saw playing time scored points, leading to a 13-9 edge in bench points.
Turning Point
Missouri State closed the opening half with an 8-0 run, tying the score at 24-all on Audrey Hopkins' pair of free throws during the final second of the half.
But it was Liberty which dominated the third quarter defensively. Hopkins accounted for Missouri State's only made field goal of the stanza, as the Lady Bears shot 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) and committed six turnovers.
Acin banked in a perimeter jumper just before the third quarter's final buzzer, giving her a team-high six points for the period and extending Liberty's advantage to 42-28.
The Lady Flames, who outscored Missouri State 18-4 during the third quarter, pushed out to their largest lead (44-28) when Thompson opened the fourth period scoring with a driving left-handed layup.
The Lady Bears battled back to within seven (44-37) when Bekemeier's putback capped off a 9-0 run with 5:36 remaining.
But Stout countered with back-to-back hoops for the Lady Flames, slowing the home team's momentum and sending Liberty on its way to victory.
Notes and Nuggets
The Lady Flames will head to FIU (16-9, 9-5 CUSA) for their final road game of the regular season, Saturday at noon. Liberty will look to split the season series after the Panthers posted a 74-61 victory in Lynchburg on Jan. 30. The matchup 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 (14-11, 8-6 CUSA) completes a season sweep of CUSA newcomer Missouri State and improves to 5-1 in February. The post duo of Emmy Stout (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Ify Nwaobi (8 points, game-high 12 rebounds) led the way to the Lady Flames' second triumph over the Lady Bears in 19 days.
Missouri State (15-11, 7-6 CUSA) falls a half-game behind the Lady Flames in the CUSA standings after losing just its second conference home game this year and its third consecutive contest overall. Leading scorer Kaemyn Bekemeier went for a game-high 19 points but shot just 5-of-18 from the field, part of her team's 25 percent (13-of-52) evening from the field.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: JaKayla Thompson – 10 points, 3 assists; Claudia Acin – 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; Elisabeth Aegisdottir – 5 points, 8 rebounds.
Other Missouri State Individuals: Faith Lee – 6 points; Kenda Brueggen – 5 points; Maiesha Washington – 3 points, 11 rebounds; Maycee James – 2 points, 5 steals.
Key Team Stats: Liberty finished just under its season average from the floor, connecting on 21-of-50 for a 42 percent clip. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, with the Lady Flames shooting 20 percent (2-of-10) and the Lady Bears hitting 15 percent (3-of-20). Missouri State had the edge at the foul line, knocking down 87.5 percent (14-of-16) to Liberty's 57.9 percent (11-of-19). Liberty controlled the interior, as evidenced by the rebounding (37-33), points in the paint (28-20) and second-chance points (9-8) categories. All eight Lady Flames who saw playing time scored points, leading to a 13-9 edge in bench points.
Turning Point
Missouri State closed the opening half with an 8-0 run, tying the score at 24-all on Audrey Hopkins' pair of free throws during the final second of the half.
But it was Liberty which dominated the third quarter defensively. Hopkins accounted for Missouri State's only made field goal of the stanza, as the Lady Bears shot 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) and committed six turnovers.
Acin banked in a perimeter jumper just before the third quarter's final buzzer, giving her a team-high six points for the period and extending Liberty's advantage to 42-28.
The Lady Flames, who outscored Missouri State 18-4 during the third quarter, pushed out to their largest lead (44-28) when Thompson opened the fourth period scoring with a driving left-handed layup.
The Lady Bears battled back to within seven (44-37) when Bekemeier's putback capped off a 9-0 run with 5:36 remaining.
But Stout countered with back-to-back hoops for the Lady Flames, slowing the home team's momentum and sending Liberty on its way to victory.
Notes and Nuggets
- Stout (team-high 15 points) scored in double digits for the 25th time in her career, 19 of which have come this season.
- Thompson's 10 points marked the junior point guard's fourth time in double figures, all happening in CUSA matchups.
- Nwaobi (game-high 12 rebounds) collected 10 or more boards for the fifth time in six February outings and for the 13th time in 22 contests to begin her collegiate career.
- Liberty posted its second win over Missouri State this month. The Lady Flames topped the Lady Bears 60-52 at Liberty Arena on Feb. 1 in the teams' inaugural head-to-head matchup.
- The Lady Flames are allowing only 50.7 ppg during their 5-1 start to February, improving to 26-3 in their last 29 February outings.
- CUSA leader Louisiana Tech had been the only conference team to come away from Great Southern Bank Arena with a win prior to Thursday. Opposing teams are just 13-83 at Missouri State since the start of the 2019-20 campaign.
- Thursday marked Liberty's 25th CUSA road game since joining the conference in 2023-24. The Lady Flames are now 17-8 in CUSA road tilts, including 5-3 this season.
- Liberty became the first team in Beth Cunningham's four seasons at Missouri State to defeat the Lady Bears when scoring fewer than 60 points. The Lady Bears were 46-0 in such contests previously.
- Missouri State entered the game with a 66.1 ppg season scoring average, and its previous season low was 49 points against Gonzaga on Dec. 19.
The Lady Flames will head to FIU (16-9, 9-5 CUSA) for their final road game of the regular season, Saturday at noon. Liberty will look to split the season series after the Panthers posted a 74-61 victory in Lynchburg on Jan. 30. The matchup 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
MOST
FG%
.420
.250
3FG%
.200
.150
FT%
.579
.875
RB
37
33
TO
15
16
STL
9
8
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's BasketballLiberty Women's Basketball Show with Alexis Sherard and Lydie Mwamba (2-18-26)
Wednesday, February 18
Coach Sherard & Claudia Acin Talk About The Win Over NMSU
Sunday, February 15
Coach Sherard Talks About The Win Over UTEP
Friday, February 13
Liberty Women's Basketball Show with Alexis Sherard and Emma Leon (2-11-26)
Wednesday, February 11