Wednesday, March 12
Huntsville, Ala.
12:30 PM ET/11:30 AM CT
Liberty University
24-6,16-2CUSA
78
vs
51
Sam Houston
13-17,5-13CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Sam Houston
10
14
13
14
51
Liberty
16
16
21
25
78
Asia Boone
Liberty Pulls Away from Sam Houston for 78-51 Quarterfinal Win
3/12/2025 3:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Asia Boone scored all of her team-high 16 points after halftime, helping No. 1 seed Liberty pull away for a 78-51 victory over No. 8 seed Sam Houston in the first CUSA Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinal, Wednesday afternoon at Propst Arena.
With its ninth consecutive win, Liberty (24-6) advances to the semifinal round of its conference tournament for the eighth straight year and the 28th time in the last 29 seasons. The Lady Flames will face the winner of Thursday's matchup between No. 4 seed New Mexico State and No. 5 seed Louisiana Tech Friday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
The Lady Flames shot 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from three-point range and racked up 37 bench points in defeating the Bearkats for the third time this season. They also posted a 19-to-13 assist-to-turnover ratio against one of the nation's leaders in forcing turnovers.
Sam Houston's season ends with a 13-17 record. Playing their second game in as many days, the Bearkats shot just 32.1 percent (18-of-56) from the field, missing all 10 of their three-point tries.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Boone – 16 points, 3 assists, 2-4 3FG; Bella Smuda – 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks; Avery Mills – 10 points, 3 assists, 2-4 3FG; Pien Steenbergen – 9 points, 3-6 3FG; Brooke Moore – 8 points, 8 rebounds.
Sam Houston Individuals: Whitney Dunn – 19 points; Deborah Ogayemi – 14 points, 9 rebounds; Nyla Inmon – 8 points, 8 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: Liberty ended up at 50 percent (31-of-62) from the field, helped by hot second-half shooting. The Lady Flames made 56.3 percent (18-of-32) of their field goals and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) of their three-point attempts during a 46-point second half. Sam Houston got to the foul line four times as often as Liberty but shot only 62.5 percent (15-of-24) while Liberty was 6-of-6. The Lady Flames had the upper hand in nearly every statistical category, including rebounds (36-35), blocked shots (7-0), points off turnovers (20-9), points in the paint (36-28), second-chance points (16-11) and bench points (37-4).
Turning Point
The score was tied four times during the game's first 11:54, with the last coming when Deborah Ogayemi's layup made it 18-all, 8:06 before halftime.
Liberty then outscored the Bearkats 14-6 to close out the half, with CUSA All-Freshman Team members Emmy Stout (six points) and Avery Mills (four) combining for 10 of the tallies.
The Lady Flames' lead stood at eight points (32-24) at the break, and Sam Houston got no closer than six during the second half.
Game Summary
First Quarter
With its ninth consecutive win, Liberty (24-6) advances to the semifinal round of its conference tournament for the eighth straight year and the 28th time in the last 29 seasons. The Lady Flames will face the winner of Thursday's matchup between No. 4 seed New Mexico State and No. 5 seed Louisiana Tech Friday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
The Lady Flames shot 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from three-point range and racked up 37 bench points in defeating the Bearkats for the third time this season. They also posted a 19-to-13 assist-to-turnover ratio against one of the nation's leaders in forcing turnovers.
Sam Houston's season ends with a 13-17 record. Playing their second game in as many days, the Bearkats shot just 32.1 percent (18-of-56) from the field, missing all 10 of their three-point tries.
Box Score Highlights
Liberty Individuals: Boone – 16 points, 3 assists, 2-4 3FG; Bella Smuda – 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks; Avery Mills – 10 points, 3 assists, 2-4 3FG; Pien Steenbergen – 9 points, 3-6 3FG; Brooke Moore – 8 points, 8 rebounds.
Sam Houston Individuals: Whitney Dunn – 19 points; Deborah Ogayemi – 14 points, 9 rebounds; Nyla Inmon – 8 points, 8 rebounds.
Key Team Stats: Liberty ended up at 50 percent (31-of-62) from the field, helped by hot second-half shooting. The Lady Flames made 56.3 percent (18-of-32) of their field goals and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) of their three-point attempts during a 46-point second half. Sam Houston got to the foul line four times as often as Liberty but shot only 62.5 percent (15-of-24) while Liberty was 6-of-6. The Lady Flames had the upper hand in nearly every statistical category, including rebounds (36-35), blocked shots (7-0), points off turnovers (20-9), points in the paint (36-28), second-chance points (16-11) and bench points (37-4).
Turning Point
The score was tied four times during the game's first 11:54, with the last coming when Deborah Ogayemi's layup made it 18-all, 8:06 before halftime.
Liberty then outscored the Bearkats 14-6 to close out the half, with CUSA All-Freshman Team members Emmy Stout (six points) and Avery Mills (four) combining for 10 of the tallies.
The Lady Flames' lead stood at eight points (32-24) at the break, and Sam Houston got no closer than six during the second half.
Game Summary
First Quarter
- Aided by a 9-0 run midway through the period, Liberty led 16-10 after 10 minutes of play.
- The Lady Flames shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15) for the stanza, with seven different players making field goals.
- Sam Houston tied the score twice in the second quarter (16-16 and 18-18) before Liberty was able to rebuild an eight-point advantage (32-24) by halftime.
- Liberty's reserves outscored their counterparts from Sam Houston by a 19-2 count prior to the intermission.
- After being held scoreless during the first half, Asia Boone tallied eight points during the third quarter for the Lady Flames, who added eight points to their halftime advantage.
- Liberty took a 53-37 lead into the final 10 minutes despite an eight-point third quarter by Sam Houston's Deborah Ogayemi.
- The Lady Flames went up by as many as 30 points (78-48) during a 25-point fourth quarter when they shot 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
- Boone (16 points) reached double figures for the sixth game in a row and led the Lady Flames in scoring for the fourth time in the last five contests. She picked up where she left off from last season's CUSA Women's Basketball Championship, when Boone paced the Lady Flames with 16.0 ppg as a freshman.
- Smuda (10 points) posted her 20th double-digit scoring effort of the season. Her four blocked shots give the center 13 rejections in three matchups with Sam Houston this year.
- Playing a team-high and career-high 28 minutes, Mills (10 points) scored in double figures for the fourth time in the last six outings during her CUSA Women's Basketball Championship debut.
- Moore tied her career high of eight rebounds.
- Jordan Hodges' two assists make her the first Lady Flame since former teammate Kennedi Williams to dish out 300 for her career.
- Liberty is now 9-1 this season and 163-6 under Carey Green when shooting 50 percent or better from the field. The Lady Flames also moved to 21-0 this season when winning the rebounding battle.
- The Lady Flames hit 10 or more triples for the 12th time this season, adding to their program single-season record which now stands at 243 three-pointers made.
- Sam Houston entered the game forcing an average of 23.8 turnovers per game, but Liberty committed only 13 on Wednesday.
- The Lady Flames tallied more bench points than their opponent for the 10th game in a row, and their 37 bench points were the team's most since Jan. 30 vs. Kennesaw State (also 37).
- Liberty is now 45-1 all-time in conference tournaments as the No. 1 seed and 64-3 when favored according to seed.
- The Lady Flames have won 24 or more games for the third time in the last four seasons.
Team Stats
SHSU
Lib
FG%
.321
.500
3FG%
.000
.435
FT%
.625
1.000
RB
35
36
TO
17
13
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
C
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