The Liberty Flames showed pure dominance in their latest matchup, this time against UVA Wise on Wednesday. Liberty notched another win on the season after suffering back-to-back losses, one against JMU and another against Duke, but this game was a different story, with the Flames holding control from start to finish, leaving no doubt who would be the victor. Liberty won this game 80-35, showing improvement on offense and defense, and while this was a weaker opponent than the last couple of games, it is still a checkpoint the team has achieved.
LU opened the game determined to score and play mature defense, which was a success, resulting in Liberty having 20 first-quarter points while holding UVA Wise to just 6 points to close out the quarter. The second quarter showed a little more promise for the Cavaliers, who were hitting some shots from the perimeter; nevertheless, this was no challenge for the Flames, who still scored 18 in the second with a strong presence in the paint and outside the arc, with Emma Leon and Lynn Peters leading the way. The second half was much of the same story with Liberty still hot from three and strong inside, in the 3rd and 4th quarter, LU outscored the Highland Cavaliers 42 to 18. Liberty did something they are used to, which is using high-level offense mixed with tempo on defense, which creates a lot of transition points.
“Our defensive effort. I thought defensively we were connected, we were communicating, and we were rotating the right way. We made some mistakes, but the effort covered a lot of that. And when we needed stops, we got stops. That’s really what separated us in the second half,” said Coach Alexis Sherard. “Honestly, just trusting the offense. When we move the ball side to side and don’t settle, we’re a much better team. We got downhill more, we played inside-out, and guys were finding the open man. We stress that every day, and tonight we saw it pay off”.
Coach Sherard was excited about the defensive effort LU put into the game, while he also raved about how the team was calm and collected with the offense, not settling for bad shots, and trusting in the game plan. While Liberty did not shoot a great percentage at the end of the game, they still made their offense count. The Flames shot 42.7% from the field and 23.3% from the field, but in turn shot 90% from the free throw line. In the other areas of the floor, the Flames were commanding with 61 rebounds, with 21 of them being offensive, with 21 assists to go along with 13 steals and 7 blocks. Liberty’s main source of points was in the paint with 50 and a staggering 40 points from the bench this game. LU was able to turn the narrative of this game about the battle of turnovers, which seemed to be a common theme for the Flames, who suffered 13 in this game.
Individually, there were some big performances that led to this win. For starters, it was Lynn Peters who led the way with 17 points and 10 boards; this was Peter’s first double-double of her career. She was highly efficient and a very strong source within the paint industry. Emma Leon also had a strong showing with 15 points and 4 steals. Her role was played well as a perimeter scoring threat and defensive disruptor. Two other usual contributors this season also had good games, with Avery Mills and Jakayla Thompson both having 9 points. UVA Wise had a low-scoring night, being affected all game by the smothering Flames defense, with the top scores being Kendra West and Shelby Higgins, with both only scoring 8.
The positives for the Flames this game were big, with the best being their depth and balanced scoring, in which the bench came through big, which was a sign that the team can still score in waves even when the starters are out, which will prove to be important in tight and crucial games. Another is Liberty’s dominance on the glass, which has been the Flames’ strongest weapon this season, attributing a 61-34 rebounding margin this game, which is elite, which pairs with the defensive intensity where the Flames forced 20 turnovers while holding the Cavs to under 20% shooting. Another reliable option this season is paint production, in which Liberty had a 50-6 margin under the basket this game, which should continue to develop with players like Emmy Stout and Lynn Peters coming into their own this season.
Looking ahead to Liberty’s next matchup, the Flames will face Duquesne, who is a strong opponent and much more skilled than UVA Wise. They hold a 5-1 record on the season, with all of these games so far being out of conference. Liberty has a 1-1 all-time record against Duquesne and will look to gain two wins in a row to build some momentum. This will be a tough task, though, as Duquesne is a good defensive team with a margin of 15.7 points over its opponents while scoring 49.5 points per game. This will be a Navy Classic Appearance, which is Liberty’s 4th appearance. This game will be played on Saturday at 3:30. This will be a big task ahead for the Flames and will be a deciding factor in the look of where the rest of the season is headed.
