Liberty suffered a close defeat against the JMU Dukes on Wednesday. This marks the Flames’ first loss of the season, and this first loss comes in the first road game as well. The final score was Liberty 61, JMU 74. Liberty led for most of the game and looked to keep the winning streak and undefeated record alive, but unfortunately, JMU broke away in the 4th quarter.
LU seemed to match the Dukes in the first quarter, ending in a 20-20 tie, and Liberty kept the scoring coming with a 17-7 margin of points in the second, leading by ten points at half. During the third, Liberty seemed to be pulling ahead with a lead as many as 12 points early, which was 39-27. Unfortunately, this is where the tide changed for both teams. The Flames began to start missing shots and losing possessions to turnovers, whereas JMU seemed to catch stride, hitting 65% of their shots in the 4th and outscoring LU by a large margin with a 16-point scoring advantage in the 4th quarter, and outscoring the Flames in the second half 47-24. JMU closed the 4th, outscoring Liberty with a 21-7 run.
There were categories the Flames ended up on top in, especially rebounding with a 48-32 advantage over JMU, and three more free throws for the Flames. But there were plenty of areas to look at where Liberty struggled, especially compared to the last game. First is the low percentage of threes. After shooting amazingly last game against ECU, Liberty seemed to fall flat this game in making 31.3% from three and also shooting a measly 37.7% from the field while only cashing in 66.7% from the free-throw line. While the shot was not falling, the Flames also seemed to be careless on the offensive end, resulting in 21 turnovers. This seems to be a trend gaining traction for Liberty, as last game against ECU, the Flames had 25 turnovers. While this is not an alarming stat, it is something to pay attention to for the next few games to see if the turnovers are a present struggle against a higher-level team, considering Liberty’s next game is against the Duke Blue Devils. Liberty also lost the paint battle this game, despite a strong showing from Emmy Stout; LU was outscored inside the paint 26-36.
There were some standout performances in the loss, particularly for three players. These players were Avery Mills, Emmy Stout, and Ify Nwaobi. Avery and Emmy both had 16 points, while Stout compiled 8 rebounds. Ify was able to gain a new rebounding career-high with 13, along with 8 points. This is great for Nwaobi, as she was a talented rebounder in high school, with a performance in one game with 17 rebounds. Two other supporting players were Elizabeth Aegisdottir with 6 points and 7 rebounds, and Lydie Mwamba with 9 points while knocking in two from three. The biggest problem the Flames dealt with was stopping JMU’s Ashanti Barnes, who had 29 points on 13-21 shooting while also posting 11 rebounds. She also had an 8-0 run herself to put the Dukes ahead late.
This matchup was more than an early-season matchup; it provided a synopsis for how both teams respond to adversity and pressure, while also revealing their identity. Liberty seemed to suffer from losing their composure, while also dealing with a now habitual habit of turning the ball over, keeping possession and avoiding cold shooting nights will be the main topic and area to work on heading into next game and the season, but Liberty also showed a lot of bright spots during the game with their rebounding advantage and ability to gain momentum early on. The question is, will Liberty be able to sustain this long term?
That is the question to face for Sunday, Liberty will match up with the Duke Blue Devils, who came into the season ranked at #7. Duke has maintained a high ranking at #15 at 2-1, their one loss coming from Baylor. Duke is a high-intensity team that will aim to apply pressure to the Flames on defense and will try and create turnovers. Duke is also a high-scoring team with the ability to get hot fast; the Flames will have to be able to keep consistency to match the output by Duke. This game is a big one for both teams, as both teams are coming off a loss, so this win is either a momentum builder for Liberty to bounce back against a high-level team or a chance to suffer back-to-back losses. Both teams will meet each other at Liberty Arena on November 16th at 2 p.m.
