No. 1 Liberty (26-6, 16-2 CUSA) defeated No. 2 Middle Tennessee (26-8, 16-2 CUSA), 53-48, on Saturday evening to win the program’s first ever CUSA Tournament Title and and the first for the program since 2018. This is Liberty’s 18th conference tournament title in program history and the 16th under head coach Carey Green.
“I have to begin with to give God the glory for this opportunity and for this accomplishment,” said Coach Green. “I have been very blessed with a great group of young ladies and a great culture that they have built. It wasn’t just this season, it’s been previous seasons and we just continued to build.”
Asia Boone knocked down two triples early for the Lady Flames, staking the top seeded team to the early lead. Emma Hess three-point play the old fashioned way and a Peen Steenbergen triple staked a 14-9 advantage for Liberty. MTSU’s Anastasiia Boldyreva made her presence known late in the period, scoring four points over the final two minutes of the opening quarter. Liberty led after one, 20-16, thanks in part to a 7-0 edge in bench points.
The Lady Flames would go over 5 minutes of the second quarter and 8 minutes of action without making a field goal, a streak that lasted late into the second quarter. A Emma Hess triple would halt the field goal drought, and Boone would connect on another three pointer, helping Liberty to a 30-25 lead at the half.
Thanks to a 11-2 run midway through the third quarter, Liberty pushed its lead to its highest point of 11 at 41-30. Hess and Steenbergen hit three-pointers for the Lady Flames to cap that run. The defending CUSA champs wouldn’t go away quietly though. They ended the third period on a 7-0, cutting Liberty’s lead to 41-37 entering the final quarter. In a rematch of the 2024 CUSA title game, Emma Hess hit a key triple with 70 seconds left in the game to put the Flames up six. After a Middle Tennessee made three, and both teams exchanged scoreless possessions, Hess would drain two free throws to put the Flames up by 5 and secure the win, 53-48.
“We had to defeat the defending champions, that’s what Middle Tennessee was,” said Green. “We played with a lot of energy. They have a great team. I really think, as we went into it, that top seed really helped us gain energy and rest to finish the game like we did. I’m real proud of this group.”
The Lady Flames enter the NCAA Tournament riding an 11-game win streak and improve to 18-6 all-time in conference finals, snapping a four game losing streak in title bouts. Liberty is now 47-1 all-time in conference tournaments as the No. 1 seed.
Emma Hess led the Flames in scoring with 14 points to go along with 6 rebounds. Bella Smuda added 10 points and 13 rebounds. Asia Boone had 11 points. Boone and Smuda were named to the all-tournament team while Smuda earned conference tournament Most Valuable Player.
After dropping four straight in the series history against Middle Tennessee, the Lady Flames have now posted consecutive wins over the Blue Raiders.
