WBB Game Day: No. 4 seed Sam Houston

Game Day Coverage

No. 5 seed Liberty vs. No. 4 seed Sam Houston (CUSA Quarterfinal - Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.)
Tipoff: Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern/11:30 a.m. Central
TV: ESPN+
Radio: LFSN Radio
Live Stats
Championship Central
Championship Ticket Information

Liberty Storylines

No. 5 seed Liberty (17-12, 11-7 CUSA) will tip off defense of its CUSA title on Thursday with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 4 seed Sam Houston (18-11, 11-7 CUSA) in Huntsville, Ala. The Lady Flames and Bearkats also met in the 2025 quarterfinals, with Liberty posting a 78-51 victory.
Thursday's victor will move on to Friday's first semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, with No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech serving as the most likely opponent.
Liberty, which has won eight of its last 10 contests, is 5-1 all-time against Sam Houston, which joined CUSA along with the Lady Flames in July 2023. However, the one loss came in the squads' only meeting this season, a 59-53 Bearkat triumph in Lynchburg on Jan. 8.
First team All-CUSA performer Avery Mills has hit 75 triples this year, needing only two more to break the Liberty single-season record. She scored in double figures in two of three CUSA Tournament games as a freshman last season, including a 10-point outing vs. Sam Houston.
Fellow sophomore and high school teammate Emmy Stout joined Mills on the first team All-CUSA squad. She paced the Lady Flames in scoring during six of the last eight regular-season games.

Notes and Anecdotes

Comprising half of a four-way tie for third place in the CUSA standings, Liberty and Sam Houston will meet in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
Liberty has not faced the Bearkats in 63 days (its longest gap between matchups against CUSA foes this season), and the Lady Flames have not defeated Sam Houston in 365 days.
Sam Houston returns all five starters and 47 of its 51 points from last year's CUSA quarterfinal clash. Meanwhile, the Lady Flames bring back only Elisabeth Aegisdottir from their starting lineup that day and just 20 of their 78 points.
Liberty has won 10+ conference games for the 27th consecutive season, spanning three leagues (Big South, ASUN and CUSA). Meanwhile, the Bearkats have done so this year for the first time since 2019-20 (Southland).
Defense is key to both teams' success. Liberty yielded just 52.5 ppg during its 8-2 finish to the regular season. Meanwhile, CUSA Defensive Player of the Year Fanta Kone spearheads a Sam Houston squad which ranks No. 5 nationally for turnovers forced (25.5/game).
Avery Mills ranks No. 2 nationally with 3.1 triples/game. However, Sam Houston only allows opposing teams to hit 4.1 triples/game this year. Mills shot 1-of-6 from beyond the arc vs. the Bearkats on Jan. 8, part of Liberty's 5-of-16 effort.

Tournament Tidbits

Liberty arrives in Huntsville as the defending CUSA champion. The Lady Flames are aiming for their first back-to-back conference titles since 2012 and 2013 (Big South).
Liberty's No. 5 seed is its lowest in a conference tournament since 1996 (No. 8 seed in Big South).
A team seeded No. 5 or lower has won three CUSA titles, including No. 5 seed TCU in 2003, No. 5 seed UCF in 2009 and No. 6 seed Tulsa in 2013.
The Lady Flames are 4-12 all-time in conference tournaments when they are the underdog according to seed, including 0-1 in CUSA and 1-3 in quarterfinals (all Big South).
Liberty will look to advance to the semifinal round of its conference tournament for the ninth straight year and the 29th time in the last 30 seasons.
First-year Head Coach Alexis Sherard will officially make his coaching debut in the conference tournament on Thursday. However, he did fill in for Carey Green during the 2013 Big South quarterfinals, guiding the Lady Flames to a 78-61 win over Gardner-Webb. If Liberty wins, Sherard will get to coach the semifinal game on his 56th birthday on Friday.
Claudia Acin, Elisabeth Aegisdottir, Avery Mills, Emmy Stout and JaKayla Thompson (2 for Boston College in 2025) are the only active Lady Flames who have played in a conference tournament game.
Liberty has won 18 conference tournament championships (1 CUSA, 17 Big South) on the court. The Lady Flames were also awarded a share of the 2020 ASUN title (along with FGCU) after the final was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Record Watch

Avery Mills has hit 75 three-pointers this year. That leaves her only two away from breaking assistant coach Emma Hess' program record of 76 from the 2023-24 season.

Finishing with a Flurry

Liberty is 8-2 since the calendar turned to February, marking the second best record among CUSA teams over the last 10 games (trailing only LA Tech's 10-0 record).

Liberty's All-CUSA Honorees

1st Team All-CUSA - Avery Mills & Emmy Stout

HM All-CUSA - Ify Nwaobi

CUSA All-Freshman Team - Ify Nwaobi

CUSA All-Academic Team - Emmy Stout

Notable

Liberty and FIU were the only squads to put two players on the All-CUSA first team.
This is the second time in three years two Lady Flames have made the All-CUSA first team. Emma Hess and Bella Smuda were previously honored together in 2023-24.
Mills and Stout were two of three members of the 2024-25 CUSA All-Freshman Team who earned All-CUSA first team accolades this season as sophomores, along with Louisiana Tech's Paris Bradley.
Stout joins Hess (2023-24) as the only Lady Flames to collect CUSA All-Academic Team and All-CUSA first team distinction the same season.
Nwaobi becomes the fourth member of the Lady Flames' current starting lineup to have made the CUSA All-Freshman Team, joining Elisabeth Aegisdottir (2023-24), Mills (2024-25) and Stout (2024-25).

On This Date

Liberty is 7-1 all-time when playing on March 12.
The Lady Flames are facing Sam Houston in a CUSA quarterfinal for the second straight year on this date. One year ago, Liberty topped the Bearkats 78-51 in Huntsville.
Liberty is 100-60 all-time in March, including a 1-0 mark this season.

Schedule