The Liberty Lady Flames defeated Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky this past week at home to win the CUSA regular season title and earn the No. 1 seed in the CUSA Tournament. The Lady Flames conclude the regular season at 23-6 overall and 16-2 in CUSA. Liberty enters postseason play with an eight game overall winning streak and a 13 game home winning streak as the Flames earn its first regular season conference title and No. 1 seed since 2018, its final year in the Big South. Liberty shared the regular season championship with MTSU but won the tiebreaker for the top seed by virtue of the season sweep of No. 3 seed Western Kentucky.

The Lady Flames’ first game in Huntsville will be a Wednesday quarterfinal clash against the winner of Tuesday’s first round matchup between No. 8 seed Sam Houston and No. 9 seed Jax State. Liberty’s quarterfinal is set for 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

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

W, 61-42 vs Middle Tennessee, March 6

Middle Tennessee entered Thursday evening’s battle for first place in CUSA at Liberty Arena as the nation’s top-ranked defensive squad. However, it was the Lady Flames who used a stifling defensive effort to produce a 61-42 victory. The Lady Flames first ever win over the Blue Raiders put the two teams into a first place tie atop the CUSA standings. Liberty avenged a 69-41 setback at Middle Tennessee on Jan. 4 to claim its first victory in five all-time matchups with the Blue Raiders. Bella Smudah, who set a program record with her 155th career game played, led all players in points (21) and rebounds (10). MTSU saw its 11-game win streak halted after managing a season low 42 points. The Blue Raiders trailed by as many as 33 points and scored only 20 points during the first three quarters.

The Lady Flames held MTSU to one made field goal in the first 9:14 of the contest, building an early 14-4 advantage. Liberty, which had never led Middle Tennessee by more than five points and had led for a total of 18:03 during the teams’ first four matchups, never trailed on Thursday. Liberty led 30-14 at halftime and it was extended to 49-20 entering the final period. The Blue Raiders had a 15-1 run in the closing minutes to make the final score more respectable, but still suffered their worst CUSA loss since March 4, 2021.

W, 74-70 vs Western Kentucky, March 8

Trailing Western Kentucky 35-21 midway through the second quarter of the regular season finale, the Lady Flames were able to battle back for the win to earn a share of their first CUSA regular season title and the No. 1 seed for this week’s CUSA Tournament in Huntsville, Alabama. Asia Boone led the Flames with 15 points on 4 of 7 shooting from three. Avery Mills added 13 points on 3 of 4 from three. Emma Hess added 12 points and 6 rebounds while Jordan Hodges scored 11 and Bella Smuda chipped in 10.

WKU dominated the first quarter, building a 26-14 lead as they shot 71.4% from the field. The lead would grow to 14 midway through through the second period before Liberty was able to cut its deficit in half by the intermission. The Lady Toppers had a three point lead late in the third quarter before Liberty took the lead for good with a 9-0 run. The first six points came at the foul line and then Avery Mills nailed the first of her three triples in 4:23 that spanned the third and fourth quarters.

Upcoming schedule

CUSA Quarterfinals 3/12 vs Sam Houston-Jacksonville State winner, 12:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

CUSA Standings

Liberty……………………….16-2
Middle Tennessee…….16-2
Western Kentucky……..13-5
New Mexico State…….10-8
Louisiana Tech…………8-10
FIU……………………………7-11
Kennesaw State……….7-11
Sam Houston……………5-13
Jacksonville State…….4-14
UTEP…………………………3-14