No. 5 seed Liberty (18-12, 11-7 CUSA) scored a season high 89 points and cruised past No. 4 seed Sam Houston (18-12, 11-7 CUSA) in a Thursday afternoon CUSA Tournament Quarterfinal matchup. With the win, the Lady Flames move into Friday evening’s semifinal round against 1-seed Louisiana Tech with tip-off scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Eastern. It marks the ninth straight trip to the conference tournament semifinals and 29th time in the last 30 seasons for the Lady Flames.
“We came into this game really focusing on taking care of the basketball and winning the rebounding war,” said Liberty head coach Alexis Sherard. “It’s a very, very good win for our program. Very proud of our team.”
Despite being seeded its lowest in a conference tournament since 1996, Liberty has its eyes set on defending its 2025 CUSA Tournament championship and got that quest off to a strong start Thursday afternoon. First-year head coach Alexis Sherard helped steer its team in the right direction with a season high in points and season low in turnovers (8) against a team that entered the tournament ranked No. 5 nationally for turnovers forced (25.5/game). Liberty entered the game averaging 17.2 turnovers per game and finished below 12 turnovers in a game for the first time this season.
In a rematch of last year’s CUSA quarterfinals where Liberty won 78-51, the Lady Flames took the lead, 9-7, at the 7:06 mark of the first quarter on an Avery Mills three-pointer. The Flames would not trail again in the contest, leading for 38:29 of the 40 minute game.
Early in the second quarter, Liberty utilized a 10-0 run to take control of the game and push its lead to double digits. Elisabeth Aegisdottir book-ended the run with a layup and a three-pointer. The Lady Flames would continue to add to its lead, ending the first half with a commanding 47-29 advantage. Liberty did all of its work in the second quarter without the services of first-team all-conference member Avery Mills who picked up her third foul at the 9;36 mark of the period, exiting the game for the remainder of the half. Ify Nwaobi maintained the scoring for the Flames with Mills sidelined, as she scored 14 points in the period, including three triples.
“We’ve had practice without Avery,” said Sherard. “We just have the next man up mentality. We’ve had practice playing without Ify at times. I just think our team collectively, whoever is available, is just ready to step up. That time when Avery was out, there was a lot of growth on our team. Players just needing to step up…This morning when Avery went to foul trouble, it wasn’t that big of a transition for us because we have been prepared for that when she was out (with her injury earlier in the season). Obviously, Ify stepped up tremendously, shot the ball well. When a player is in that type of rhythm, coaching is overrated. I didn’t want to say too much, didn’t want to say too little, just wanted to focus on the defensive side of the basketball.”
After the intermission, Liberty opened the third quarter on a 13-1 run, extending its lead to 60-30. Avery Mills (10 points) and Emmy Stout (3 points) combined for all of Liberty’s points during the run, including seven of which came from the free throw line.
The Bearkats, who were part of a four-way tie for third place in the CUSA regular season, would not go down without a fight. They had a 16-2 run to trim the Lady Flames’ margin to 18 late in the third quarter. Liberty would dominate the final period, outscoring Sam Houston, 20-8, to secure the victory.
In addition to protecting the ball themselves, the Lady Flames also took advantage of 16 Sam Houston turnovers, scoring 20 points off them. Liberty also led in second chance points (18-8) and bench points (15-3).
Ify Nwaobi had a career-high with 22 points, making 8 of her 9 field goal attempts and 5 of 6 from behind the arc. Nwaobi made her first five triples, all of them in the first half as well as grabbing seven rebounds in the win. Avery Mills finished with 20 points on 6 of 10 shooting and 4 of 8 from three to go along with four rebounds. She has set the program’s single-season record for most three-pointers with 79, besting her former teammate and current assistant coach Emma Hess’ record. Emmy Stout finished the game with 11 points, making 7 of 9 free throws, and 6 rebounds. Aegisdottir had 6 points and 7 rebounds while Claudia Acin chipped in 9 points.
Liberty shot 48% from the field for the game and made 12 of 29 from three (41%) and 17 of 23 (74%) from the free throw line. The Lady Flames held the Bearkats to 38% shooting from the floor and 3 of 18 from three (17%) while shooting 16 of 27 from the free throw line (59%).
Liberty, which has won 9 of its last 11 contests, is one of the hottest teams in CUSA. The team’s foe Friday, Louisiana Tech, has won 18 in a row. The Bulldogs are 25-5 on the season and went 17-1 in CUSA play. They are coming off a 72-43 win over Delaware in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. Louisiana Tech beat Liberty, 86-72, at Liberty Arena on January 11 in the team’s only meeting this season.
“Louisiana Tech, they are a great basketball team,” said Sherard. “We will have to focus on transition defense. Paris Bradley, Preseason Player of the Year, she is an excellent player. They have a lot of weapons on the perimeter. Our paint protection, 1 on 1 defense, rebound the basketball, and really guarding that three. I think Parrish had 6 or 7 threes in their first game. Defense, taking care of the basketball, and trying to limit LA Tech to one shot per possession and winning the rebounding war.”
