Game Day Central Links: Live Audio (LFSN Radio) Live Video (A-10 Network) Live Stats Liberty Game Notes Liberty Women's Basketball Instagram Liberty Women's Basketball Twitter Liberty Women's Basketball Facebook UMass Women's Basketball Webpage Game Time: Saturday - 1 p.m. TV Coverage: A-10 Network Radio Coverage: Liberty Flames Sports Network - Radio WQLU 90.9 FM The Light Play-By-Play Broadcaster: Jamie Hall The Starting 5 - Liberty's Top Storylines • Liberty (1-3) will wrap up its UMass Thanksgiving Classic appearance with what amounts to a third-place game against host UMass (2-3), Saturday at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass. • Both teams will look to halt three-game losing streaks during Saturday's matinee, just the second hardwood meeting ever between the Lady Flames and Minutewomen. • Liberty will seek its first-ever win over UMass, its first victory in the state of Massachusetts and its first triumph over an Atlantic 10 foe since an overtime win over Saint Joseph's on Nov. 22, 2014. • The Lady Flames have gotten strong play from their starting front court of late. In the last two games, KK Barbour is averaging 15.5 ppg, while Keyen Green and Kierra Johnson-Graham are each posting 11.5 ppg. • This tournament serves as a homecoming of sorts for Liberty junior post player Molly Reagan. She hails from Braintree, Mass., and helped Braintree High School win back-to-back state titles in 2014 and 2015. Series History vs. UMass Overall: UMass leads, 1-0 Streak: UMass W1 Last 5 Meetings: 12/29/93 UMass won, 69-34 (N) Notable: The teams' only previous meeting took place on the opening day of the 1993 St. Peter's Tournament in Jersey City, N.J.
Notes and Anecdotes - Liberty vs. UMass • Liberty and UMass both enter Saturday's matinee looking to snap three-game losing streaks. Both teams struggled in the second half on Friday after owning halftime leads. Liberty was outscored by Houston, 56-39, during the final 20 minutes, while Northeastern defeated UMass, 31-20, after the intermission. • The Lady Flames and Minutewomen each feature three foreign-born players on their 2017-18 rosters, including one player apiece from Turkey (Liberty's Melis Ucar and UMass' Anil Soysal). • Freshman Ashtyn Baker leads Liberty in playing time this season, averaging 23.8 minutes/game. That would rank only seventh on the UMass roster, as six Minutewomen are playing 25.5 minutes/game or more. • The reigning Big South (Liberty's Keyen Green) and Atlantic 10 (UMass' Hailey Leidel) Freshmen of the Year will go head-to-head on Saturday. • Liberty faced UMass Associate Head Coach Danny Hughes 10 years ago in a different role. Hughes was Houston's interim head coach when Liberty posted a 70-61 win over the Cougars on Nov. 24, 2007 in Cincinnati, Ohio. • Liberty Director of Athletics Ian McCaw previously served in the same capacity at UMass for one year (2002-03). He also earned his master's degree from UMass in 1987.
On This Date • Liberty is 10-5 all-time on Nov. 25. However, the Lady Flames have lost their last two Nov. 25 contests, falling at Elon in 2014 and at Valparaiso last season. • The Lady Flames recorded a 61-56 victory at then A-10 member Xavier on Nov. 25, 2007 to win the National City Xavier Invitational title. Liberty also notched a 78-67 home victory over West Virginia on Nov. 25, 2000. • Liberty is 81-65 all-time in November, including 46-47 under Carey Green and 1-3 in 2017-18.
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