WBB Game Day: FIU

Game Day Coverage

Liberty Storylines

Liberty (14-11, 8-6 CUSA) will head to the Sunshine State on Saturday for its final road contest of 2025-26 at FIU (16-9, 9-5 CUSA).
The Lady Flames are 3-2 all-time against the Panthers. However, FIU recorded a 74-61 win at Liberty Arena on Jan. 30. That gives the Panthers a chance to join 2023-24 Middle Tennessee as the only CUSA squads ever to go 2-0 against Liberty in a regular season series.
Liberty has found its stride since losing to the Panthers, going 5-1 to open the month of February. Defense has fueled the Lady Flames' success, as Liberty is allowing only 50.7 ppg for the month.
CUSA leading rebounder Ify Nwaobi (9.8 rpg) pulled down a game-high 12 boards during Liberty's 55-43 victory at Missouri State on Thursday. She is averaging a double-double (11.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg) this month, with three of her four double-doubles coming in February.
Emmy Stout tallied a team-leading 15 points at Missouri State, reaching double figures for the 25th time in her career. However, the sophomore has been held to single digits during each of her three career matchups with FIU.

Notes and Anecdotes

Saturday's matinee will pit two of CUSA's hottest teams against one another. Liberty is 5-1 since its 74-61 loss to FIU on Jan. 30. Meanwhile, the Panthers' first victory in Lynchburg began a stretch of five wins in their last seven games.
If the CUSA tournament started today, No. 4 seed FIU would face No. 5 seed Liberty in the quarterfinal round.
Liberty has gone 2-0 in CUSA play vs. an opponent 14 times (including vs. Missouri State, New Mexico State and UTEP this season), while going 0-2 once (vs. MTSU in 2023-24).
Liberty, which has held three straight opponents below 50 points, will face CUSA's No. 2 scoring offense in FIU (71.4 ppg). The Panthers feature two of the conference's top three scorers in Rhema Collins (No. 1, 18.0 ppg) and Parris Atkins (No. 3, 16.6 ppg). Liberty's Ify Nwaobi (9.8 rpg) and Collins (9.2 rpg) sit 1-2 on the CUSA rebounding chart.
The Lady Flames have a tight turnaround for their final road game of the regular season. They finished playing at Missouri State 38.5 hours before Saturday's noon tipoff at FIU, with over 1,300 miles separating the two venues. Louisiana Tech (Jan. 22-24) is the only CUSA team to go 2-0 on the Missouri State-FIU road swing this season.
The Lady Flames need to go 2-2 or better the rest of the way to record a 27th straight season with 10+ conference wins.

February is for the Flames

Liberty is off to a 5-1 start in its first six games this month after going 1-5 during its last six January tilts.
The Lady Flames are shooting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc in February while holding opponents to 50.7 ppg on 32.6 percent field goal shooting. Liberty has held three straight opponents below 50 points for the first time since a three-game stretch spanning Dec. 18, 2021-Jan. 5, 2022.
Individually, Ify Nwaobi is averaging a double-double (11.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg) and 1.7 bpg.

At Home on the Road

Liberty actually owns a better road winning percentage this year (6-4, 60 percent) than it does at home (6-5, 54.5 percent).
Sophomores Avery Mills (19.5 ppg, 32 three-pointers, 51.6 3FG%) and Emmy Stout (16.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 55.8 FG%) have both been effective on the road this season.
The Lady Flames have clinched a winning road record for the fourth time in five seasons.

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 40-14 versus CUSA foes over the last three seasons, including 35-13 in conference play, 5-1 in the CUSA Championship, 18-5 at home and 17-8 on the road.

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. 22 nationally for three-point field goal percentage at 35.9. The Lady Flames have hit five more triples than their opponents this season (167 to 162) on 81 fewer attempts.

Schedule