Liberty Women’s Basketball loses in NCAA First Round, 79-78

Head Coach Carey Green and the No. 13 seeded Liberty University Women’s Basketball team trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half to the No. 4 seeded University of Kentucky in the first round of March Madness in Lexington. Despite this, the Lady Flames grit and determination propelled them to finish just a point shy of advancing to the second round. 

The Lady Wildcats advanced to the round of 32 for the first time since 2021, following the thrilling 79-78 win, where they faced No. 5 seed Kansas State University in Memorial Coliseum on March 23.   

“First and foremost, I just want to give God the glory for all of the great experiences we’ve had,” Green said. “I’m certainly proud of this group, and we want to congratulate Kentucky and wish the best for them as they advance in the tournament. … The first three quarters didn’t quite go our way, but we stayed in the fight. … This group did not check out, and that shows you that they are … one body, and they stayed focused.”  

In the fourth quarter, Kentucky was in command with 6:55 to go in the game, but Liberty rallied the troops one last time as they went on an 11-0 run to close the Lady Wildcats’ lead to four points, 72-68 with 2:26 left. With the crowd on the edge of their seats, Liberty cut Kentucky’s lead to 76-75 with 46 seconds left in the contest. However, graduate student guard Georgia Amoore knocked down three shots from the charity stripe to put things out of reach for the Lady Flames.  

Amoore led Kentucky with 34 points, tying her school’s record for most points in an NCAA tournament game. The last Lady Wildcat to score 34 points in a women’s tournament game was A’dia Mathies on March 26, 2013 in a contest against University of Dayton, according to Kentucky Athletics. Amoore, this year’s second-team All-American for both The Associated Press and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, was also 12-24 from the floor and 6-10 from behind the arc on Friday. She also added eight assists.  

“I can’t keep smiling and say we did better and held her (Amoore) back,” Green said. “For 12 points in the second half, she was on fire. We felt like their team was struggling a little bit, but we knew what she could do, and she played very well. … She had an outstanding game against us, … and unless there’s an injury or something like that, she’ll be playing at the next level.”  

In the first 1:49, the Lady Flames took an early 4-2 lead thanks to a layup from senior guard Jordan Hodges. This was the Lady Flames’ only lead in the game. Moreover, through the first 4:17, Amoore was the only name on the stat sheet for Kentucky, as she scored the Lady Wildcats’ first eight points of the afternoon. The Lady Flames attempted to hang with the Lady Wildcats, but the sheer size and experience from Kentucky seemed to be too much for Liberty to handle.  

By the end of the first quarter, Liberty was down by nine and missing one of their key players, sophomore guard Asia Boone. Before the first media timeout, she subbed out of the game and did not return for the rest of the contest due to an injury.  

Freshman center Emmy Stout and the rest of Liberty’s bench had to pick up the scoring slack for Liberty in Boone’s absence. Stout ended the first half with 10 points, while the bench contributed 12 points total. However, the Lady Flames headed to the locker room down 44-34.  

Amoore scored 23 points in the first half, but the second half was a completely different story for both teams. Liberty found a way to slow down Kentucky’s lead scorer, but every time the Lady Flames gained an inch, Kentucky gained a yard. Liberty was outscored 20-16 in the third quarter, as the doubt started setting in for Flames Nation. The Lady Flames were down by 14 heading into the final quarter.  

“(Liberty) definitely turned up the intensity and the pressure,” Amoore said. “But I think our biggest thing is that we can’t get stagnant. We have to keep moving and creating for each other. … I don’t think we had the mindset like we did in the first half.” 

In the second half, Stout and redshirt senior center Bella Smuda combined for 22 points and went 8 for 9 from the field while getting both of Kentucky’s bigs, sophomore center Clara Strack and junior forward Teonni Key, to foul out of the game late in the fourth quarter to help open things up on the offensive end. Smuda and Stout finished with 14 and 20 points respectively, for a total of 34 points.  

“Emmy is a star, and Emmy is the future of this program,” Smuda said. “I’ve been telling her all year that she has to just believe in herself because she has all the tools in the world to be so amazing, and she already is. I can’t even wait to see what’s next for her. She’s going to break a million records and do amazing things. Like, watch out for Emmy Stout next year and the next following years.”  

Liberty’s bench also scored 28 points to Kentucky’s 2, with Stout collecting 20 of those points to help get the Lady Flames back in the game. However, the loss of Boone and not enough time in the game proved to be insurmountable in this contest for the Lady Flames.  

 This Liberty team will be remembered for its resiliency throughout the entire season as they battled through a difficult Conference USA season, winning the conference tournament, but ultimately falling just short of a second-round advancement in the NCAA Tournament.  

“They have been so easy to coach and so hungry and committed to one another,” Green said. “They’re exceptional. You don’t usually have teams that are that close, and I think it’s because of their hearts and their desire to be successful.”  

Clingman is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.