Thursday, February 26
Lynchburg, Va.
7:00 PM ET
Liberty University
15-12,9-7CUSA
65
vs
37
Middle Tennessee
14-13,9-6CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Middle Tenn.
8
18
7
4
37
Liberty
18
18
13
16
65
Liberty’s Defense Makes the Difference in 65-37 Triumph Over MTSU
2/26/2026 10:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty pitched another stellar defensive effort during Thursday evening's clash with Middle Tennessee at Liberty Arena. The Lady Flames held the Blue Raiders to season lows in points (37), field goal percentage (26.2) and three-point field goal percentage (9.5) during an impressive 65-37 victory.
The Lady Flames move to 15-12 overall and 9-7 in CUSA play after posting their fourth consecutive home win in a rematch of the last two CUSA title games. Offensively, Liberty scored its most points (65) in eight all-time matchups with the Blue Raiders. The Lady Flames found success both inside (Emmy Stout – 14 points, 8 rebounds and Ify Nwaobi – 9 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks) and outside (10 three-pointers at a 41.7 percent clip).
Middle Tennessee falls to 14-13 overall and 9-6 in conference action with its fourth straight road loss. Alayna Contreras scored a game-high 18 points, but only two came during her team's 11-point second half.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: JaKayla Thompson – 10 points, 7 rebounds; Claudia Acin – 8 points, 4 assists, 2 steals; Lynn Peters – 7 points; Emma Leon – 6 points.
Other Middle Tennessee Individuals: Macie Phifer – 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 3-16 FG; Blair Baugus – 4 points, 10 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the floor and 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from three-point range, coming off a 2-of-17 effort from beyond the arc at FIU on Saturday. Middle Tennessee's final numbers were 26.2 percent (16-of-61) from the field and 9.5 percent (2-of-21) from long range. The game featured only 14 total free throw attempts, with Liberty shooting 70 percent (7-of-10) and Middle Tennessee ending up at 75 percent (3-of-4). Liberty had the upper hand in rebounds (40-34) and bench points (23-7) and turned the Blue Raiders' 12 turnovers into 17 points. The Lady Flames' 10 triples were their most since a 12 three-pointer effort at UTEP on Jan. 4, their seven blocked shots equaled a season high (also vs. UVA Wise on Nov. 26) and their 12 turnovers matched a season low (also vs. Frostburg State on Nov. 4 and vs. Oregon State on Dec. 20).
Turning Point
Middle Tennessee scored the night's first four points before going scoreless for the next seven minutes.
During that drought, the Lady Flames took the lead for good with a 14-0 run. Three different players knocked down triples, including Avery Mills in her first appearance in three weeks.
Mills' trifecta at the 2:15 mark made it 14-4, Liberty, and the lead stayed at eight points or more the rest of the way.
Notes and Nuggets
The Lady Flames will welcome Western Kentucky (8-18, 4-11 CUSA) to Liberty Arena, Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on ESPN+ as Liberty attempts to complete a season sweep of the Lady Toppers. The Lady Flames recorded a dramatic 55-53 victory in Bowling Green on Jan. 22.
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.
The Lady Flames move to 15-12 overall and 9-7 in CUSA play after posting their fourth consecutive home win in a rematch of the last two CUSA title games. Offensively, Liberty scored its most points (65) in eight all-time matchups with the Blue Raiders. The Lady Flames found success both inside (Emmy Stout – 14 points, 8 rebounds and Ify Nwaobi – 9 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks) and outside (10 three-pointers at a 41.7 percent clip).
Middle Tennessee falls to 14-13 overall and 9-6 in conference action with its fourth straight road loss. Alayna Contreras scored a game-high 18 points, but only two came during her team's 11-point second half.
Box Score Highlights
Other Liberty Individuals: JaKayla Thompson – 10 points, 7 rebounds; Claudia Acin – 8 points, 4 assists, 2 steals; Lynn Peters – 7 points; Emma Leon – 6 points.
Other Middle Tennessee Individuals: Macie Phifer – 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 3-16 FG; Blair Baugus – 4 points, 10 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: Liberty shot 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the floor and 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from three-point range, coming off a 2-of-17 effort from beyond the arc at FIU on Saturday. Middle Tennessee's final numbers were 26.2 percent (16-of-61) from the field and 9.5 percent (2-of-21) from long range. The game featured only 14 total free throw attempts, with Liberty shooting 70 percent (7-of-10) and Middle Tennessee ending up at 75 percent (3-of-4). Liberty had the upper hand in rebounds (40-34) and bench points (23-7) and turned the Blue Raiders' 12 turnovers into 17 points. The Lady Flames' 10 triples were their most since a 12 three-pointer effort at UTEP on Jan. 4, their seven blocked shots equaled a season high (also vs. UVA Wise on Nov. 26) and their 12 turnovers matched a season low (also vs. Frostburg State on Nov. 4 and vs. Oregon State on Dec. 20).
Turning Point
Middle Tennessee scored the night's first four points before going scoreless for the next seven minutes.
During that drought, the Lady Flames took the lead for good with a 14-0 run. Three different players knocked down triples, including Avery Mills in her first appearance in three weeks.
Mills' trifecta at the 2:15 mark made it 14-4, Liberty, and the lead stayed at eight points or more the rest of the way.
Notes and Nuggets
- Stout (14 points) led the team in scoring for the third straight game and the fifth time in the last six outings.
- Thompson (10 points) reached double figures for the fifth time in her career, all of which have come during CUSA play this season. She also equaled her career high of seven rebounds.
- Nwaobi (10 rebounds) grabbed double-digit rebounds for the 14th time in 24 games to begin her career. Her career-high five blocked shots were the most by a Lady Flame since Jan. 25, 2025, when Bella Smuda rejected five FIU shots, and were just one off Smuda's Liberty Arena single-game record.
- Seven different Lady Flames hit three-pointers on Thursday, including Zeynep Avci, who made the first triple of her career.
- After missing the last five games due to injury, Mills totaled five points and two assists in 16 minutes off the bench.
- Liberty improves to 6-2 in February, allowing just 50.9 ppg in those eight contests. The Lady Flames are now 27-4 in their last 31 February outings and have held four of their last five opponents below 50 points.
- Liberty and Middle Tennessee split their two regular-season meetings for the second straight year, as the Blue Raiders had defeated the Lady Flames 63-54 in Murfreesboro on Jan. 23 for Coach Rick Insell's 500th career victory.
- The Lady Flames currently sit in sixth place in the CUSA standings at 9-7 but are only one game behind the two teams (FIU and Missouri State) tied for second place at 10-6.
The Lady Flames will welcome Western Kentucky (8-18, 4-11 CUSA) to Liberty Arena, Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on ESPN+ as Liberty attempts to complete a season sweep of the Lady Toppers. The Lady Flames recorded a dramatic 55-53 victory in Bowling Green on Jan. 22.
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
MTSU
Lib
FG%
.262
.436
3FG%
.095
.417
FT%
.750
.700
RB
34
40
TO
12
12
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballCoach Sherard & Ify Nwaobi Talk About The Win Over MTSU
Friday, February 27
Liberty Women's Basketball Show with Alexis Sherard and Ify Nwaobi (2-26-26)
Thursday, February 26
Liberty 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