WBB Game Day: No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech

Game Day Coverage

No. 5 seed Liberty vs. No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech (CUSA Semifinal - Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.)
Tipoff: Friday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern/5:30 p.m. Central
TV: ESPN+
Radio: LFSN Radio
Live Stats
Championship Central
Championship Ticket Information

Liberty Storylines

After racing past Sam Houston 89-57 on Thursday, No. 5 seed and defending champion Liberty (18-12) will face No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech (25-5) in the CUSA semifinal round for the second year in a row.
Friday's winner will advance to Saturday's championship game at 5:30 p.m. Eastern against the winner of No. 2 seed FIU vs. No. 6 seed Missouri State. Liberty is aiming for its 26th conference tournament championship game appearance in 30 seasons.
Liberty is 4-2 all-time against the Lady Techsters, including an 80-53 win in the 2025 semifinal clash. However, LA Tech won this year's only meeting by an 86-72 count at Liberty Arena on Jan. 11.
Avery Mills hit four triples during a 20-point effort on Thursday, breaking assistant coach Emma Hess' Liberty single-season record of 76 triples in the process. Mills scored a game-high 17 points during last year's CUSA semifinal against the Lady Techsters.
CUSA All-Freshman Team member Ify Nwaobi scored 20 of her career-high 22 points in the first half on Thursday, shooting 5-of-5 from three-point range during the first 20 minutes. CUSA's leading rebounder (9.5 rpg) is shooting 64 percent (16-of-25) from three-point range over the last 10 games.

Notes and Anecdotes

CUSA's two hottest teams will match up in Friday's first semifinal. Louisiana Tech has won 18 games in a row, while Liberty has won four in a row and nine of its last 11. The two teams have recorded the tournament's largest margins of victory thus far, including the Lady Flames' 32-point win over Sam Houston and the Lady Techsters' 29-point triumph over Delaware.
The two teams have not met in 61 days. Liberty has faced every other CUSA opponent at least once since its only regular-season matchup with LA Tech.
After defeating Sam Houston in the CUSA quarterfinals for the second year in a row, Liberty will face the Lady Techsters in the semifinals for the second consecutive season. Liberty won last year's semifinal meeting, 80-53.
LA Tech's 86 points on Jan. 11 were the most Liberty has allowed all season. The Lady Flames have not given up 70 points in a game during their last 11 outings.
Friday's game will feature all three sophomores who made the All-CUSA first team, including Liberty's Avery Mills and Emmy Stout and LA Tech's Paris Bradley.
Liberty's Avery Mills and LA Tech's Jianna Morris have each hit 79 triples this season. Mills' total is the Liberty single-season record, while Morris is chasing the LA Tech mark of 86.

Tournament Tidbits

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 5-12 all-time in conference tournaments when they are the underdog according to seed, including 1-1 in CUSA and 1-4 in semifinals (all Big South). Liberty is 2-4 when facing a tournament's No. 1 seed.
After advancing to the semifinals of its conference tournament for the ninth straight year and the 29th time in the last 30 seasons, Liberty will aim for its fourth consecutive championship game appearance and its 26th in 30 seasons.
First-year Head Coach Alexis Sherard, celebrating his 56th birthday on Friday, is aiming to become the second head coach ever to win the CUSA title during their first season at that school. Charlene Thomas-Swinson guided Tulsa to the 2006 CUSA crown during her first year as head coach of the Golden Hurricane.
Liberty's 32-point win over Sam Houston on Thursday was the largest in a CUSA Tournament game since 2016, when Marshall topped FIU 76-44 in the second round.
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

Ify Nwaobi's 256 rebounds this season put her 16 away from breaking Devon Brown's Liberty freshman record of 271 boards from the 2009-10 season.

Finishing with a Flurry

Liberty is 9-2 since the calendar turned to February, marking the second best record among CUSA teams over the last 11 games (trailing only LA Tech's 11-0 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 5-4 all-time when playing on March 13.
The Lady Flames are 2-1 in conference tournament semifinals on this date. Liberty lost 73-68 to Campbell in 1992 (Big South), beat High Point 73-55 in 2010 (Big South) and topped North Florida 65-51 in 2019 (ASUN).
Liberty is 101-60 all-time in March, including a 2-0 mark this season.

Schedule