The Liberty Lady Flames extended its win streak to three and improved to 5-1 in February following a big win at Missouri State on Thursday night. However, FIU would put those good feelings to bed after opening Saturday’s game with a 24-0 run to half the Lady Flames win streak. Liberty’s leading scorer Avery Mills missed both games as she has now missed five straight with an ankle injury. There is mounting hope that she could return soon.

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

W, 55-43 @ Missouri State, Feb. 19

For a third straight outing, Liberty held its opponent below 50 points a ND picked up a win. The Lady Flames broke things open with an 18-4 third quarter advantage and limited the Lady Bears to a season low scoring output in the road victory, as Liberty completed a season sweep of Missouri State. Missouri State shot just 25% from the field. Liberty picked up just the second win by a visiting team at Great Southern Bank Arena, joining CUSA leader Louisiana Tech.

The post duo of Emmy Stout and Ify Nwaobi led the way to Liberty’s second triumph over the Lady Bears in 19 days. Stout finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds while Nwaobi had 8 points and 12 rebounds, recording  her fifth double digit rebounding effort in six games. JaKayla Thompson added 10 points and 3 assists, her fourth time reaching double figures, all h appending in CUSA matchups.

Missouri State closed the opening half with an 8-0 run, tying the score at 24 going into halftime. But it was Liberty which dominated the third quarter defensively, as the Lady Bears shot 1 of 11 and committed six turnovers during the period. Acing banked in a perimeter jumper just before the third quarter’s final buzzer, extending the Liberty advantage to 42-28. The Lady Flames pushed out to their largest lead of 44-28 when Thompson opened the final quarter with a driving left handed layup. The Lady Bears battled back to within seven on the heels of a 9-0 run with 5:36 remaining. Stout countered with back-to-back hoops for the Lady Flames, slowing the home team’s momentum and sending Liberty on its way to victory.

L, 66-45 @ FIU, Feb. 21

FIU raced out to an eye-dropping 24-0 lead to begin Saturday afternoon’s matchup with Liberty as the Lady Flames see its three game winning streak h Alfred after setting season lows for points, field goal percentage (29.1%) and three point field goal percentage (11.8%). FIU becomes just the second CUSA squad ever to defeat the Lady Flames twice in a regular season.

Emmy Stout led Liberty with 12 points and 3 steals while JaKayla Thompson added 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Ify Nwaobi had 4 points and 8 rebounds.

Liberty missed its first 14 field goal attempts of the matinee and committed seven turnovers during that stretch. Those miscues led to 12 FIU points, comprising half of the home team’s game opening 24-0 run. The Lady Flames battled back, cutting the deficit to single digits at 30-21 following back-to-back hoops by Stout to begin the third quarter. However, the Panthers outscored Liberty, 20-3, over the next seven minutes to thwart the visitors’ comeback efforts.

Upcoming schedule

2/26 vs Middle Tennessee, 7 p.m., ESPN+
2/28 vs Western Kentucky, 2 p.m., ESPN+

CUSA Standings

Louisiana Tech…………14-1
FIU………………………….10-5
Middle Tennessee…….9-5
Sam Houston……………9-5
Missouri State…………..8-6
Liberty………………………8-7
Jacksonville State…….7-8
Delaware…………………..6-9
Kennesaw State……….5-10
New Mexico State…….4-10
UTEP……………………..4-10
Western Kentucky……..3-11