2025–26 Liberty Lady Flames basketball team

2025–26 Liberty Lady Flames basketball
ConferenceConference USA
Record18–12 (11–7 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Andrea "Andy" Bloodworth
  • Katie Mattera
  • Brad Palmer
  • Amber Lee
  • Emma Hess
Home arenaLiberty Arena
2025–26 Conference USA women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Louisiana Tech 17 – 1   .944 26 – 7   .788
FIU 12 – 6   .667 20 – 11   .645
Middle Tennessee 11 – 7   .611 16 – 15   .516
Sam Houston 11 – 7   .611 18 – 13   .581
Liberty 11 – 7   .611 18 – 13   .581
Missouri State † 11 – 7   .611 23 – 12   .657
Jacksonville State 9 – 9   .500 16 – 16   .500
Delaware 6 – 12   .333 13 – 19   .406
Kennesaw State 6 – 12   .333 13 – 17   .433
UTEP 5 – 13   .278 13 – 17   .433
New Mexico State 5 – 13   .278 9 – 21   .300
Western Kentucky 4 – 14   .222 8 – 21   .276
† 2026 CUSA tournament winner
As of March 19, 2026

The 2025–26 Liberty Lady Flames basketball team represents Liberty University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Flames, led by first-year head coach Alexis Sherard, play their home games at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, Virginia, as third-year members of Conference USA.

Previous season

The Lady Flames finished the 2024–25 season 26–7, 16–2 in C-USA play, to finish as C-USA co-regular season champions, alongside Middle Tennessee.[1] They defeated Sam Houston,[2] Louisiana Tech,[3] and Middle Tennessee to win the C-USA tournament championship, sending the Lady Flames to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2018.[4] In the tournament, they would receive the No. 13 seed in the Spokane Regional 4,[5] where they would be defeated by No. 4 seed Kentucky in the First Round.[6]

On August 28, 2025, longtime head coach Carey Green announced his retirement, ending his 26-year reign at the helm,[7] with associate head coach Alexis Sherard being named the team's new head coach.[7]

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for departure
Jordan Hodges 0 G 5'6" Senior Richmond, VA Graduated
Pien Steenbergen 7 F 6'1" Sophomore Berlicum, NL Transferred to Texas A&M[8]
Brooke Moore 10 G 6'0" Sophomore Kennesaw, GA Transferred to St. John's[9]
Asia Boone 12 G 5'8" Sophomore San Diego, CA Transferred to Kentucky[10]
Emily Howard 14 C 6'5" Junior Vancouver, B.C Transferred to Boise State[11]
Anna Badosa 22 G 5'9" Senior Girona, ES Graduated
Emma Hess 23 G 6'0" Senior Beavercreek, OH Graduated
Bella Smuda 31 C 6'6" Senior Exton, PA Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous college
JaKayla Thompson[12] 3 G 5'8" Junior Louisville, KY Boston College
Lydie Mwamba[13] 22 G 5'11" Senior Kinshasa, DRC New Mexico

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name Hometown School Height Weight Commit date
Emma Leon
G 		Barcelona, ES Santa Pau Pifma 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) N/A N/A 
Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Zeynep Avci
G 		Ankara, TR TED Ankara College 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) N/A N/A 
Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Lynn Peters
C 		Almelo, NL Caland Lyceum 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) N/A N/A 
Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Preseason

On October 9, 2025, Conference USA released their preseason poll. Liberty was picked to finish second in the conference, with five first-place votes.[14]

Preseason rankings

Conference USA Preseason Poll
Place Team Votes
1 Louisiana Tech 128 (5)
2 Liberty 125 (5)
3 Middle Tennessee 123 (2)
4 Missouri State 107
5 Western Kentucky 96
6 FIU 74
7 Sam Houston 59
T-8 UTEP 57
Kennesaw State
10 New Mexico State 51
11 Delaware 36
12 Jacksonville State 23
(#) first-place votes

Source:[14]

Preseason All-CUSA Team

Preseason All-CUSA Team
Player Position Year
Avery Mills Guard Sophomore
Emmy Stout Center

Source:[14]

Roster

2025–26 Liberty Lady Flames women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Avery Mills 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So Liberty Christian Academy Lynchburg, Virginia
G 3 JaKayla Thompson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Boston College Louisville, Kentucky
G 4 Claudia Acin 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Les Alzines Girona, Spain
F 6 Ify Nwaobi 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) RS Fr Edge School Calgary, Alberta
F 11 Caroline Shiery 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS Jr Central Dauphin High School Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
G 15 Maleah Alexander 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) RS Fr Cooper High School Burlington, Kentucky
C 17 Emmy Stout 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Liberty Christian Academy San Diego, California
F 21 Elisabeth Aegisdottir 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Fjolbrautarskoli Suournesja Grindavík, Iceland
G 22 Lydie Mwamba 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Sr New Mexico Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
G 24 Emma Leon 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Santa Pau Pifma Barcelona, Spain
G 25 Zeynep Avci 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr TED Ankara College Ankara, Turkey
C 33 Lynn Peters 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Caland Lyceum Almelo, Netherlands
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: February 9, 2026

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2025*
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Frostburg State W 78–49  1–0
  16 – Stout   11 – Stout   4 – Tied  Liberty Arena (971)
Lynchburg, VA
November 7, 2025*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		East Carolina W 69–53  2–0
  21 – Mills   10 – Mills   7 – Acin  Liberty Arena (1,050)
Lynchburg, VA
November 12, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at James Madison L 61–74  2–1
  16 – Tied   13 – Nwaobi   3 – Aegisdottir  Atlantic Union Bank Center (1,971)
Harrisonburg, VA
November 16, 2025*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		No. 15 Duke L 57–71  2–2
  21 – Stout   11 – Nwaobi   6 – Thompson  Liberty Arena (2,404)
Lynchburg, VA
November 26, 2025*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		UVA Wise W 80–35  3–2
  17 – Peters   10 – Tied   5 – Thompson  Liberty Arena (828)
Lynchburg, VA
November 29, 2025*
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		vs. Duquesne
Navy Classic 		W 67−60  4−2
  18 – Mills   13 – Nwaobi   10 – Acin  Alumni Hall (853)
Annapolis, MD
November 30, 2025*
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		vs. Manhattan
Navy Classic 		W 68−56  5−2
  24 – Mills   11 – Nwaobi   4 – Tied  Alumni Hall (673)
Annapolis, MD
December 7, 2025*
3:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at George Mason W 74–73  6–2
  24 – Mills   12 – Nwaobi   8 – Acin  EagleBank Arena (776)
Fairfax, VA
December 13, 2025*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Richmond L 61–76  6–3
  16 – Nwaobi   13 – Nwaobi   3 – Acin  Liberty Arena (1,011)
Lynchburg, VA
December 20, 2025*
12:30 am, YouTube 		vs. Hawai'i
Maui Classic 		L 58–67  6–4
  13 – Tied   5 – Tied   4 – Thompson  Seabury Hall (1,357)
Makawao, HI
December 20, 2025*
11:00 pm, YouTube 		vs. Oregon State
Maui Classic 		L 57–64  6–5
  14 – Tied   7 – Nwaobi   2 – Acin  Seabury Hall (1,299)
Makawao, HI
C-USA regular season
January 2, 2026
8:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at New Mexico State W 67–62  7–5
(1–0) 		 25 – Mills   9 – Tied   3 – Tied  Pan American Center (235)
Las Cruces, NM
January 4, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at UTEP W 86−66  8−5
(2–0) 		 22 – Mills   7 – Nwaobi   7 – Acin  Don Haskins Center (795)
El Paso, TX
January 8, 2026
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Sam Houston L 53–59  8–6
(2–1) 		 11 – Tied   16 – Nwaobi   4 – Acin  Liberty Arena (864)
Lynchburg, VA
January 11, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPNU 		Louisiana Tech L 72–86  8–7
(2–2) 		 20 – Stout   6 – Stout   7 – Acin  Liberty Arena (1,042)
Lynchburg, VA
January 17, 2026
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Delaware L 69–76  8–8
(2–3) 		 21 – Stout   7 – Tied   4 – Acin  Bob Carpenter Center (2,600)
Newark, DE
January 22, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Western Kentucky W 55–53  9–8
(3–3) 		 19 – Stout   11 – Stout   7 – Acin  E. A. Diddle Arena (767)
Bowling Green, KY
January 23, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Middle Tennessee L 54–63  9–9
(3–4) 		 12 – Aegisdottir   11 – Aegisdottir   3 – Tied  Murphy Center (3,411)
Murfreesboro, TN
January 30, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		FIU L 61–74  9–10
(3–5) 		 13 – Thompson   9 – Nwaobi   3 – Tied  Liberty Arena (928)
Lynchburg, VA
February 1, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Missouri State W 60–52  10–10
(4–5) 		 13 – Acin   10 – Nwaobi   4 – Acin  Liberty Arena (1,060)
Lynchburg, VA
February 5, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Jacksonville State W 60–55  11–10
(5–5) 		 27 – Mills   15 – Nwaobi   5 – Thompson  Pete Mathews Coliseum (573)
Jacksonville, AL
February 7, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Kennesaw State L 58–64  11–11
(5–6) 		 18 – Stout   11 – Nwaobi   4 – Acin  VyStar Arena (822)
Kennesaw, GA
February 12, 2026
5:00 pm, ESPN+ 		UTEP W 58–48  12–11
(6–6) 		 16 – Stout   10 – Stout   4 – Thompson  Liberty Arena (849)
Lynchburg, VA
February 14, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		New Mexico State W 67–42  13–11
(7–6) 		 17 – Acin   11 – Nwaobi   4 – Leon  Liberty Arena (1,131)
Lynchburg, VA
February 19, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Missouri State W 55-43  14–11
(8–6) 		 15 – Stout   12 – Nwaobi   3 – Thompson  Great Southern Bank Arena (2,225)
Springfield, MO
February 21, 2026
12:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at FIU L 45-66  14–12
(8–7) 		 12 – Stout   8 – Nwaobi   4 – Stout  Ocean Bank Convocation Center (214)
Miami, FL
February 26, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Middle Tennessee W 65-37  15–12
(9–7) 		 14 – Stout   10 – Nwaobi   4 – Acin  Liberty Arena (1,035)
Lynchburg, VA
February 28, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Western Kentucky W 60–54  16–12
(10–7) 		 17 – Mills   10 – Thompson   6 – Thompson  Liberty Arena (1,212)
Lynchburg, VA
March 6, 2026
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Delaware W 74-64  17–12
(11–7) 		 18 – Stout   6 – Tied   8 – Acin  Liberty Arena (1,518)
Lynchburg, VA
C-USA tournament
March 12, 2026
12:30 pm 		(5) vs. (4) Sam Houston W 89-57  18–12
  22 – Nwaobi   7 – Tied   5 – Thompson  Propst Arena (2,346)
Huntsville, AL
March 13, 2026
6:30 pm 		(5) vs. (1) Louisiana Tech       Propst Arena 
Huntsville, AL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Sources:[15][16]

References

  1. ^ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Conference USA. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  2. ^ "Kats' run ends in CUSA quarterfinals". Sam Houston. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  3. ^ "Lady Techsters Fall to Lady Flames in CUSA Semifinals". LA Tech Athletics. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  4. ^ "CUSA Women's Championship: Liberty tops MTSU 53-48". WSLS. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  5. ^ "2025 Division I Women's Basketball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  6. ^ "Kentucky women barely escape 13-seed Liberty thanks to Amoore's record-tying performance". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  7. ^ a b "Carey Green announces retirement; Alexis Sherard to take over as Liberty Women's Basketball head coach". Liberty University. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  8. ^ Shaw, Tyler (April 29, 2025). "Aggies sign Liberty transfer Pien Steenbergen". KBTX. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  9. ^ "St. John's Women's Basketball Adds Brooke Moore to 2025-26 Roster". RedStormSports.com. May 4, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  10. ^ Makauskas, Carolina (April 10, 2025). "UK women's basketball picks up former C-USA Freshman of the Year in portal". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  11. ^ "Emily Howard Joins Boise State". BroncoSports.com. April 18, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  12. ^ "Thompson Set to Transfer to Liberty WBB". LibertyFlames.com. April 28, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  13. ^ "Mwamba to Transfer to Liberty WBB". LibertyFlames.com. May 29, 2025. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  14. ^ a b c "WBB: 2025-26 CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team and Poll Announced". Conference USA. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  15. ^ "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Liberty University. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  16. ^ "Liberty Flames 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
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