The Liberty Lady Flames picked up its fourth win in a row on Saturday afternoon at FIU. The Flames have improved to 19-6 overall and 12-2 in conference play. We now enter the final two weeks of the regular season with Liberty just one game behind Middle Tennessee for first place and two games ahead of Western Kentucky. Of course, the Flames host those two teams in the final week of the regular season.

Here’s a recap of the team’s recent action:

W, 73-57 @ FIU, Feb. 22

Avery Mills scored 15 points to pace four Lady Flames in double figures to pick up the win over FIU. It marked the first time a team had won on the road in the two-year series between the two programs and was just the second CUSA home loss for FIU this season. Bella Smuda added 13 points and 10 rebounds while Emma Hess scored 12. Asia Boone had 10 points to round out the double figures scorers for the Lady Flames.

In a battle of the top two rebounding teams in CUSA, Liberty edged the Panthers in that stat, 34-28 and racked up 29 bench points. Liberty is now 16-0 the is season when winning the rebounding battle. The Panthers were held to 36.5% from the floor and committed 22 turnovers.

FIU tied the game at 14 midway through the first quarter, but the Panthers only made two more field goals over the next 13 minutes of play as Liberty opened things up with a 25-5 surge. Avery Mills tallied 11 points during the run, which ended with Liberty owning a 39-19 cushion entering the final minute of the opening half. The lead remained in double digits for the remainder of the contest.

With her 15 points, Mills became the 8th different Lady Flame to lead the team in scoring at least once this season. She scored 29 points in two regular season wins over the Panthers. Meanwhile, Smuda passed Avery Warley for 6th place on Liberty’s career scoring list while posting her 5th double-double of the season and 25th of her career.

Upcoming schedule

2/27 @ Jacksonville State, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+
3/1 @ Kennesaw State, 2 p.m., ESPN+

CUSA Standings

Middle Tennessee…….13-1
Liberty……………………….12-2
Western Kentucky……..10-4
New Mexico State…….8-6
FIU……………………………6-8
Louisiana Tech…………6-9
Sam Houston……………5-10
Kennesaw State……….5-10
Jacksonville State…….4-11
UTEP…………………………3-11