Liberty has fallen to 2-2 on the season after back-to-back losses, with this defeat at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils on Sunday afternoon at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, Virgina. The final score of the game was Liberty 57, Duke 71.
In the early going of the game, Duke seemed to have the Flames’ number, forcing a lot of turnovers and capitalizing on them to build an early lead. Liberty was able to close the gap at the end of the first, ending 19-13. By the second quarter, Duke took control and built a big lead and dominated on both ends, and by halftime, Duke was ahead 41-27.
By the third quarter, the Flames were able to get a little energy, opening the quarter on an 8-0 run, which closed the gap to six points. This was able to catch Duke off guard and keep Liberty in the game, especially aided by Nwaobi and Stout’s rebounding, yet Duke was able to keep Liberty at bay, still in the lead despite Liberty outscoring the Blue Devils 17-4. In the final frame, Duke’s depth and execution prevailed. They closed out the game with smart shot selection, strong defense, and limited Liberty’s fast-break opportunities. Liberty fought hard but couldn’t string together enough stops or momentum to overtake Duke, who secured the 71–57 win.
“We are a young team, we’re learning how to win, learning the team and learning the coaching staff, just pleased overall with the effort our ladies gave,” said coach Alexis Sherard.
What went wrong for Liberty was another page of the same story in the tale of turnovers. Duke scored a total of 26 points off of Liberty’s 25 turnovers; the Flames have faced a worrying factor of losing a lot of turnovers this season, and it appears to be something that has not been fixed as of yet. On a positive note, Liberty is still winning the rebound battle against other teams, with having a 38-34 rebound advantage against Duke for the game.
Another low spot for Liberty was free throws; the Flames shot 55.6% from the line on making 10 of the 18 free throws taken, and in this matchup, Duke was also stronger in the paint, which has not been said a lot for Liberty, who usually is the clear victor when scoring under the rim. Duke had 36 points in the paint compared to Liberty’s 30. Both teams shot relatively the same from three, with the Flames shooting 35.7% and Duke 33.3%.
Another aspect LU seems to struggle in aside from stats is the absences of experience, while the Flames have good players and some returning vets the team seems to struggle when playing together at times which is clear when looking at the turnover stats from the game, Liberty has faced an uphill battle with facing out of conference foes this season but if the team cannot respond to adversity quick then this lack of experience could turn into a lingering issue for the Flames.
“You’re going to have pre-game jitters, in-game jitters, middle game jitters, and end game jitters,” Sherard said. “And we have a young team, we knew that they were going to press. With regards to preparation, we went five vs six just in preparation because we knew pressure was going to be heavy. By the second half, we settled down and collected our composure and took care of the ball a little bit better.”
Coach Sherard seemed to be calm and composed after the loss, with a mindset of taking this loss as a learning lesson and not a mark on the Flames’ season so far. Liberty is young and so is the season, with this being coach Sherard’s first season under the helm as head coach, there is surely going to be ups and downs, with learning curves expected to happen. Duke is a high major opponent with extensive NCAA Tournament experience and expectations, and this loss is not a stake to LU’s season.
There were some big performances for the game, with Emmy Stout scoring 21 points while also grabbing 7 boards, and Nwaobi had another big night on the board with 11 rebounds while adding 8 points. Despite the low shooting percentage, Avery Mills was able to contribute as well with 13 points with two threes. On the other end, Duke’s Toby Fournier was dominant with 18 points and 4 blocks.
Liberty does not have another game until November 26th, which is against UVA Wise at 2:00. The Flames will look to bounce back against this team in order to achieve another positive record at 3-2. Liberty will likely look to tighten up ball control; turnovers were a big issue in the Duke game. Rebounding and paint points will again be key, as they were against Duke, and this game will be at Liberty, so the team is aiming to have a strong home-court advantage.
