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Thursday, February 5
Jacksonville, Ala.
7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT
Liberty University
11-10,5-5CUSA
60
at
55
Jacksonville State
11-11,5-5CUSA
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F
Liberty
10
21
19
10
60
Jacksonville St.
16
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11
55
JaKayla Thompson scored 11 points on Thursday, including the Lady Flames' final five of the game.
Mills Leads Liberty to 60-55 Win at Jax State
2/5/2026 10:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Liberty's Avery Mills (career-high 27 points, career-high seven three-pointers) enjoyed a career game at Jacksonville State, Thursday evening. But the Lady Flames' 60-55 victory was not secure until the visitors got a couple late defensive stops and a clutch driving layup from JaKayla Thompson.
Liberty improves to 11-10 overall and evens its CUSA mark at 5-5 after posting just the second win by a road team in its all-time head-to-head series with the Gamecocks. Thompson (11 points, game-high five assists) and Ify Nwaobi (seven points, game-high 15 rebounds, game-high three blocks) also stood out for the victors.
Jax State, which entered the contest with a 7-2 home record, falls to 11-11 overall and 5-5 in conference play. The Gamecocks knocked down 11 three-pointers on the night but got doubled up in points in the paint, 28-14.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Mills – 27 points, 3 rebounds, 7-10 3FG; Thompson – 11 points, 5 assists, 2 steals; Emmy Stout – 10 points, 3 rebounds; Nwaobi – 7 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks.
Jax State Individuals: Adriana Jones – 10 points; Eden Sample – 9 points, 2 blocks, 3-5 3FG; Maria Sanchez Ponce – 9 points, 3-6 3FG; Mya Barnes – 6 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals.
Key Team Stats: Liberty hit 49 percent (24-of-49) of its field goal attempts for the contest, including 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from three-point range. Jax State finished at 35.7 percent (20-of-56) from the floor and 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from distance. The game featured only 11 total free throws, with Liberty shooting 60 percent (3-of-5) and the Gamecocks connecting at a 66.7 percent (4-of-6) clip. Jax State enjoyed advantages in second-chance points (14-9) and bench points (16-2), while tallying 11 points off Liberty's 15 turnovers. The Lady Flames won the rebounding battle, 34-29.
Turning Point
Thompson's three-point play with 4:40 left in the contest punctuated an 8-0 Liberty run and extended the Lady Flames' lead to nine (58-49), matching their largest of the game.
However, Jax State responded with six straight points, making it a one-possession game (58-55) on Brooklyn McDaniel's layup at the 2:00 mark.
After forcing a Liberty missed shot, the Gamecocks' next trip to the offensive end saw Nwaobi record a big blocked shot and defensive board.
Thompson rebounded her own missed shot, leading to her game-sealing driving layup which made it 60-55 Liberty with 14.2 ticks left.
After Jax State threw away the ensuing inbounds pass, Liberty was able to dribble out the clock and wrap up its fourth straight head-to-head win over the Gamecocks.
Notes and Nuggets
The Lady Flames will wrap up their road swing at Kennesaw State (10-11, 3-7 CUSA) on Saturday. Liberty's only regular-season meeting with the Owls will tip off at 2 p.m. at VyStar Arena and 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 improves to 11-10 overall and evens its CUSA mark at 5-5 after posting just the second win by a road team in its all-time head-to-head series with the Gamecocks. Thompson (11 points, game-high five assists) and Ify Nwaobi (seven points, game-high 15 rebounds, game-high three blocks) also stood out for the victors.
Jax State, which entered the contest with a 7-2 home record, falls to 11-11 overall and 5-5 in conference play. The Gamecocks knocked down 11 three-pointers on the night but got doubled up in points in the paint, 28-14.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Mills – 27 points, 3 rebounds, 7-10 3FG; Thompson – 11 points, 5 assists, 2 steals; Emmy Stout – 10 points, 3 rebounds; Nwaobi – 7 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks.
Jax State Individuals: Adriana Jones – 10 points; Eden Sample – 9 points, 2 blocks, 3-5 3FG; Maria Sanchez Ponce – 9 points, 3-6 3FG; Mya Barnes – 6 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals.
Key Team Stats: Liberty hit 49 percent (24-of-49) of its field goal attempts for the contest, including 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from three-point range. Jax State finished at 35.7 percent (20-of-56) from the floor and 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from distance. The game featured only 11 total free throws, with Liberty shooting 60 percent (3-of-5) and the Gamecocks connecting at a 66.7 percent (4-of-6) clip. Jax State enjoyed advantages in second-chance points (14-9) and bench points (16-2), while tallying 11 points off Liberty's 15 turnovers. The Lady Flames won the rebounding battle, 34-29.
Turning Point
Thompson's three-point play with 4:40 left in the contest punctuated an 8-0 Liberty run and extended the Lady Flames' lead to nine (58-49), matching their largest of the game.
However, Jax State responded with six straight points, making it a one-possession game (58-55) on Brooklyn McDaniel's layup at the 2:00 mark.
After forcing a Liberty missed shot, the Gamecocks' next trip to the offensive end saw Nwaobi record a big blocked shot and defensive board.
Thompson rebounded her own missed shot, leading to her game-sealing driving layup which made it 60-55 Liberty with 14.2 ticks left.
After Jax State threw away the ensuing inbounds pass, Liberty was able to dribble out the clock and wrap up its fourth straight head-to-head win over the Gamecocks.
Notes and Nuggets
- Mills' 27 points eclipsed her previous high of 25 and were the most by a Lady Flame since Nov. 16, 2024, when Bella Smuda scored 27 at Tennessee.
- Mills' seven triples added one to her previous high and were the most by a Liberty player since Jan. 28, 2023, when current assistant Emma Hess knocked down seven at Lipscomb. Sharon Wilkerson hung onto her program single-game of eight three-pointers, which has stood since Jan. 18, 1999.
- Mills has now knocked down 67 triples this season, second only to Hess' program record of 76 from the 2023-24 campaign.
- Mills climbed to 11th on Liberty's career three-pointers list with 109, leapfrogging Elena Kisseleva, Sarah Wilkerson and Daina Staugaitiene during the game.
- Four of Mills' triples came during a third quarter which saw her single-handedly match Jax State's offensive output, 14-14.
- Mills has now tallied 38 points in 46 minutes in two visits to Jax State, shooting 10-of-14 from three-point range.
- Thompson tallied Liberty's final five points of the night to reach double figures (11 points) for the third time in her career, all of which have come in the last six outings.
- Stout (10 points) reached double digits for the 16th time this season but the first since Jan. 22 at Western Kentucky.
- Nwaobi (15 rebounds) fell just one board shy of her career high, and her three blocked shots equaled the redshirt freshman's career best. She has now collected double-digit boards in back-to-back games and 10 times in 18 appearances this season.
- Elisabeth Aegisdottir's five rebounds boost the junior's career total to 404, moving her into Liberty's all-time top 50 list at No. 49.
- Liberty is now 6-2 all-time against Jax State after winning the teams' lone regular-season matchup.
- The Lady Flames have won their first two games to begin the month of February, improving to 23-2 in their last 50 February tilts.
- Thursday's game marked Liberty's 50th matchup with a CUSA opponent since joining the league in 2023-24. The Lady Flames are now 37-13 in those contests, including 32-12 in conference play and 5-1 in the CUSA Championship.
The Lady Flames will wrap up their road swing at Kennesaw State (10-11, 3-7 CUSA) on Saturday. Liberty's only regular-season meeting with the Owls will tip off at 2 p.m. at VyStar Arena and 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
JSU
FG%
.490
.357
3FG%
.563
.379
FT%
.600
.667
RB
34
29
TO
15
9
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Pts
27
FGM
9
3FGM
7
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's BasketballLiberty Women's Basketball Show with Alexis Sherard and JaKayla Thompson (2-4-26)
Thursday, February 05
Coach Sherard Talks About The Win Over Missouri State
Monday, February 02
Elisabeth Aegisdottir & Avery Mills Talk About The Win Over Missouri State
Monday, February 02
Liberty Women's Basketball Show with Alexis Sherard and Maleah Alexander (1-21-26)
Thursday, January 22