WBB Game Day: Shepherd

Game Day Central page

Game Day Links:
Live Video (ESPN+)
Live Audio (LFSN Radio)
Live Stats
Liberty Game Notes
Liberty Women's Basketball Instagram
Liberty Women's Basketball Twitter
Liberty Women's Basketball Facebook
Shepherd Women's Basketball Webpage
ASUN Women's Basketball Webpage

Game Time:
Sunday - 2 p.m.

TV Coverage:
ESPN+
Play-By-Play Broadcaster: Rett McGibbon
Color Analyst: Heather Stephens

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 (14-5, 10-2 ASUN) will play a rare February non-conference game on Sunday, hosting Shepherd (0-0, 0-0 PSAC) for the Rams' first contest in 354 days. It will be classified as an exhibition for Shepherd.

• Coming off back-to-back ASUN wins at Bellarmine last weekend, Liberty is 1-0 all-time against Shepherd and 5-0 all-time against PSAC opponents.

• The Lady Flames are 9-0 at Liberty Arena and have won 14 consecutive home games overall for their longest home winning streak since the 2017-18 season.

• Liberty's leading scorer Emily Lytle (14.1 ppg) became the 18th member of the Lady Flames' 1,000-point club at Bellarmine on Feb. 13. She has moved into fourth place on the Lady Flames' all-time list with 152 career three-pointers.

• On Monday, Bella Smuda became the Lady Flames' first three-time ASUN Freshman of the Week. She led the Lady Flames in points (31), rebounds (15) and blocks (3) in 32 total minutes during a pair of victories at Bellarmine. She stands 6-5, while Shepherd's tallest player measures 5-11.

Notes and Anecdotes - Liberty vs. Shepherd
• Liberty's 20th game of the 2020-21 season will be Shepherd's first contest of any kind in 354 days, although the Rams will classify Sunday's contest as an exhibition. Shepherd is scheduled to tip off its significantly abbreviated regular season on Feb. 27 with a home game against Southern Virginia.

• The Rams last played on March 4, 2020, when they lost at Shippensburg in the PSAC quarterfinals. That contest ended Shepherd's most successful season since 2014-15 at 21-9.

• The Lady Flames, who rank No. 35 nationally for rebound margin (+6.7), will enjoy a significant size advantage over Shepherd, which has no players who stand 6-0 or taller.

• This will be Liberty's second matchup against an NCAA Division II opponent this season. The Lady Flames posted an 85-60 home win over Carson-Newman on Dec. 13. Carson-Newman is currently 13-1 and ranked No. 11 nationally.

• Sunday will mark Liberty's first February non-conference game since Feb. 4, 2010. That day, the Lady Flames recorded a 64-44 home victory over North Carolina Central.

• Both teams feature a sophomore from Manassas, Va., in Liberty's Makaela Kestner and Shepherd's Jordan Smith. However, Kestner went to Liberty High School while Smith graduated from Colgan High School.

Home Sweet Home
• Entering this weekend, the Liberty men's and women's basketball teams are 20-0 during Liberty Arena's brief history, including a 9-0 record for the Lady Flames and an 11-0 mark for the Flames.

• The Lady Flames have won 14 consecutive home games overall, dating back to the 2019-20 season at the Vines Center. This is the Lady Flames' 12th home win streak of 10+ games in program history and their longest since a 15-game streak which spanned Nov. 28, 2017-March 11, 2018.

• The Liberty men's and women's basketball teams have won a combined 32 consecutive home games since the Lady Flames' 74-65 loss to No. 24 FGCU, Feb. 1, 2020 at the Vines Center, including 18 victories for the Flames and 14 for the Lady Flames.