The No. 2 seed Liberty Lady Flames led throughout, doing so for a second straight game in Huntsville, Alabama, to defeat the no. 6 seed New Mexico State, 82-70, on Friday evening at Propst Arena to advance to Saturday’s CUSA Tournament Championship Game.
Liberty’s Asia Boone once again led the Flames. She scored 20 points, one of four players to reach double figures in the game for Liberty. Bella Smuda had a double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Emma Hess scored 18 points, making 5 of 7 field goals, and Jordan Hodges finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
The Lady Flames pushed its lead to double figures early in the contest and never looked back. The lead grew to over 20 points as Liberty cruised to the win. The Flames shot 8 of 13 from three in the win.
Liberty will meet No. 1 seed Middle Tennessee on Friday at 5:30 Eastern in a game that will be televised on CBS Sports Network. The Blue Raiders are 28-4 overall and 16-0 in conference play. They defeated the Flames in the two previous meetings this season, winning 81-55 in Murfreesboro on Feb. 8 and 67-52 in Lynchburg on March 6.
Quarterfinals, Wednesday, March 13, 2024 (ESPN+)
#1 Middle Tennessee 78, #8 UTEP 50
#2 Liberty 62, #7 Western Kentucky 59
The No. 2 seed Liberty Lady Flames outlasted the No. 7 seed Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 62-59, to advance to the CUSA Tournament semifinals on Friday evening.
Liberty’s Asia Boone, the CUSA Freshman of the Year, hit a three pointer with 19 seconds remaining to put the Flames up, 60-56. Following a WKU made triple five seconds later, Emma Hess hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left on the clock to push the Lady Flames up three. Liberty had to overcome two missed three pointers by the Hilltoppers to clinch the win.
Boone led the way with 17 points while Jordan Bailey also scored 17, making five of six three pointers. Bella Smuda chipped in 10 points and 12 rebounds. Both Bailey and Smuda were hampered with four fouls on the afternoon. The Lady Flames never trailed in the game and advanced to the conference tournament’s semifinal round for the seventh straight year and the 27th time in the last 28 seasons.
