Liberty Women’s Basketball Extends Home Win Streak Against Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State

The Liberty University Women’s Basketball team took the court at Liberty Arena against conference opponents Kennesaw State University and Jacksonville State University to extend their home win streak Thursday Jan. 30. and Saturday Feb. 1.  

Kennesaw took an early 4-0 lead on Thursday as the Lady Flames defense was on display in the opening quarter. A layup from sophomore guard Asia Boone cut Kennesaw’s lead in half 4-2, but the Lady Owls responded with a jumper.  

The two teams continued to battle on the court as Kennesaw maintained the 11-8 lead, but sophomore guard Brooke Moore tied the score 11-11 with a 3-pointer. Redshirt senior center Bella Smuda pushed the Flames ahead 12-11 with a free throw with less than two minutes left in the quarter.  

The Lady Owls tied it up to begin the second quarter, but Smuda responded with a layup to pull the Flames ahead, 17-15. Moments later, Kennesaw’s graduate student guard Carly Hooks went on a 6-0 run, pulling the Lady Owls ahead 21-19.  

The Lady Flames responded with a charge led by senior guard Emma Hess as she broke a string of misses with a 3-pointer at the 6:50 mark, giving Liberty a 22-21 lead.  

On a fast break, Hess hit another 3-pointer to push the lead 29-21. This shot also marked her 200th career 3-pointer, making Hess the second Liberty women’s basketball player in history to reach this milestone.  

“Emma Hess is doing what she does,” Head Coach Carey Green said. “She’s a leader, senior and knocking down shots. Just pleased with the entire effort.”  

With Liberty’s offense beginning to heat up, Boone netted a second-chance 3-pointer from the top of the arc, extending the lead 37-21.  

The crowd cheered the Lady Flames on as they extended their lead to 43-23 thanks to the efforts of Hess and Boone in the final moments of the first half.  

Liberty continued extending its lead in the third. With just under nine minutes left, Hooks tried to breathe some life into the Lady Owl’s offense with a layup to bring the score to 43-25. However, Smuda answered for Liberty with a layup of her own, putting the Lady Flames up by 20, 45-25.  

The Lady Flames had several more offensive chances as they maintained a 20-point lead at 49-29 with a pair of free throws from freshman center Emmy Stout.  

The Lady Flames closed out the third quarter with a comfortable 56-31 lead.  

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Flames continued dominating, and with 6:17 left, Smuda made it 65-33 with a driving layup. Green’s squad continued to capitalize on turnovers with Stout adding a final layup to seal the 74-39 victory for Liberty.  

Next, the Lady Flames set up offensive pressure against Jacksonville State on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Flames took a 4-2 lead, but the Gamecocks responded to tie the game at 4-4. Boone put the Lady Flames ahead 7-4, draining a 3-pointer. This basket made her the second-fastest player in program history to reach 100 career 3-pointers, accomplishing the milestone in a mere 53 games.   

The Lady Flames gained momentum, extending the score to 13-7 thanks to the efforts of Smuda. Jacksonville State closed the gap with a 3-point jumper from junior guard Clara Gonzalez Planella, cutting the deficit 13-10. 

The teams continued to trade baskets, but the Lady Flames began pulling away. Smuda added a second-chance layup to close out the first quarter with the Lady Flames ahead 21-15.  

To start the second quarter, Smuda continued to dominate by converting a layup to extend the lead 23-15. Liberty’s offense began to click as they took a 30-15 lead.  

The Gamecocks tried to cut the deficit with 3-pointers from redshirt sophomore forward Valentina Saric and senior forward Mya Barnes, cutting the lead to 35-25 with 36 seconds left in the half. Moore answered with a driving layup, giving the Lady Flames a 37-25 lead at the end of the half. 

The Lady Flames extended their lead 39-25 to start the second half as Smuda hit a jumper in the nick of time before the shot clock expired. She followed that up with another second-chance layup to push the advantage to 43-25 with 6:50 left in the third quarter.  

Jacksonville State mounted a comeback as the crowd grew anxious, cutting the deficit to 47-40 by the end of the third quarter.  

The Gamecocks continued to close the gap in the fourth, but Boone responded for the Lady Flames with another 3-pointer, bringing the score to 52-45 with 6:13 left in the game.   

In the final minutes, Jacksonville State kept the pressure on, but Lady Flames’ sophomore forward Elisabeth Aegisdottir responded with a jumper, pushing the lead to 58-53 in the final two minutes.  

“The second half, or the third, fourth quarter, we weren’t consistent on the defensive end,” Green said. “Particularly this game, we struggled, and we turned the ball over at critical times and just didn’t play real good defense at that point, so the game got much closer.”  

The Lady Flames held on during the final stretch for a 62-53 victory over the Gamecocks as they extend their home win streak to nine.  

“I think this team is very special in the fact that we are able to fight hard and were able to be aggressive,” Smuda said. “There’s going to be moments where teams go on a run, and there’s going to be moments where we’re not shooting the ball well, but we have to be able to play together and stick together through it all.”  

The Lady Flames will be back in action Feb. 6 as they head to face Louisiana Tech University. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, Louisiana.  

Pais is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.