.png&width=100&height=100&type=webp)
Saturday, February 21
Miami, Fla.
12:00 PM ET
Liberty University
14-12,8-7CUSA
45
at
66
FIU
17-9,10-5CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Liberty
4
13
11
17
45
FIU
24
6
20
16
66
Lydie Mwamba
FIU Rides 24-0 Start to 66-45 Victory Over Liberty
2/21/2026 4:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MIAMI, Fla. – Riding the emotion of Senior Day, FIU raced out to a 24-0 lead to begin Saturday afternoon's matchup with Liberty. The Panthers went on to post a 66-45 victory inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center, completing a season sweep of the Lady Flames.
Liberty (14-12, 8-7 CUSA) sees its three-game winning streak halted after setting season lows for points (45), field goal percentage (29.1 percent, 16-of-55) and three-point field goal percentage (11.8 percent, 2-of-17).
FIU (17-9, 10-5 CUSA) becomes just the second CUSA squad (also 2023-24 Middle Tennessee) ever to defeat the Lady Flames twice in a regular season. Parris Atkins scored a game-high 25 points on her Senior Day, the Panthers' final home game of the season.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Emmy Stout – 12 points, 3 steals; JaKayla Thompson – 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 5-5 FT; Ify Nwaobi – 4 points, 8 rebounds; Claudia Acin – 4 points, 5 assists
FIU Individuals: Atkins – 25 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, 3-5 3FG, 8-9 FT; Rhema Collins – 15 points, 10 rebounds, 6-7 FT; Riley Burd – 9 points, 3-6 3FG
Key Team Stats: While Liberty was struggling offensively, FIU shot 42 percent (21-of-50) from the field and 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from three-point range. Both teams fared well at the free throw line, with the Panthers hitting 81 percent (17-of-21) and the Lady Flames making 78.6 percent (11-of-14). FIU outrebounded the Lady Flames 38-30 and tallied 20 points off Liberty's 17 turnovers. Liberty recorded a 17-13 edge in bench points but matched its season low of two triples, both of which came during the contest's final 90 seconds.
Turning Point
Liberty missed its first 14 field goal attempts of the matinee and committed seven turnovers during that stretch.
Those miscues led to 12 FIU points, comprising half of the home team's game-opening 24-0 run which featured nine Atkins points.
The Lady Flames battled back, cutting the deficit to single digits (30-21) following back-to-back hoops by Stout to begin the third quarter.
But the Panthers outscored Liberty 20-3 over the next seven minutes to thwart the visitors' comeback efforts.
Notes and Nuggets
The Lady Flames will close out the regular season with three straight home games, beginning with a Thursday rematch of the last two CUSA title games against Middle Tennessee. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game 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 (14-12, 8-7 CUSA) sees its three-game winning streak halted after setting season lows for points (45), field goal percentage (29.1 percent, 16-of-55) and three-point field goal percentage (11.8 percent, 2-of-17).
FIU (17-9, 10-5 CUSA) becomes just the second CUSA squad (also 2023-24 Middle Tennessee) ever to defeat the Lady Flames twice in a regular season. Parris Atkins scored a game-high 25 points on her Senior Day, the Panthers' final home game of the season.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Emmy Stout – 12 points, 3 steals; JaKayla Thompson – 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 5-5 FT; Ify Nwaobi – 4 points, 8 rebounds; Claudia Acin – 4 points, 5 assists
FIU Individuals: Atkins – 25 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, 3-5 3FG, 8-9 FT; Rhema Collins – 15 points, 10 rebounds, 6-7 FT; Riley Burd – 9 points, 3-6 3FG
Key Team Stats: While Liberty was struggling offensively, FIU shot 42 percent (21-of-50) from the field and 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from three-point range. Both teams fared well at the free throw line, with the Panthers hitting 81 percent (17-of-21) and the Lady Flames making 78.6 percent (11-of-14). FIU outrebounded the Lady Flames 38-30 and tallied 20 points off Liberty's 17 turnovers. Liberty recorded a 17-13 edge in bench points but matched its season low of two triples, both of which came during the contest's final 90 seconds.
Turning Point
Liberty missed its first 14 field goal attempts of the matinee and committed seven turnovers during that stretch.
Those miscues led to 12 FIU points, comprising half of the home team's game-opening 24-0 run which featured nine Atkins points.
The Lady Flames battled back, cutting the deficit to single digits (30-21) following back-to-back hoops by Stout to begin the third quarter.
But the Panthers outscored Liberty 20-3 over the next seven minutes to thwart the visitors' comeback efforts.
Notes and Nuggets
- Despite being stuck in foul trouble all afternoon, Stout (team-high 12 points) reached double digits for the 20th time in 26 games this season and for the first time in four career matchups with FIU. The sophomore also tied a season high with three steals.
- Acin's five-assist game was the 10th of her career, seven of which have come this season.
- FIU evened the all-time head-to-head series with the Lady Flames at 3-3.
- The Panthers' 66 points were the most Liberty has allowed this month. The Lady Flames arrived in Miami with a 5-1 February record, having allowed 50.7 ppg during their first six contests during the month.
- Prior to Saturday, Liberty had won 11 straight games played on Feb. 21 since a 71-64 setback at William & Mary on Feb. 21, 1981.
- The Lady Flames finish 5-4 in CUSA road games this season and are now 17-9 in conference road contests over the last three years.
The Lady Flames will close out the regular season with three straight home games, beginning with a Thursday rematch of the last two CUSA title games against Middle Tennessee. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game 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
FIU
FG%
.291
.420
3FG%
.118
.412
FT%
.786
.810
RB
30
38
TO
17
20
STL
10
12
Game Leaders
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ 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