Louisiana Tech hosts Liberty following Smuda’s 24-point outing

Liberty Lady Flames (15-5, 8-1 CUSA) at Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (11-9, 4-5 CUSA)

Ruston, Louisiana; Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Liberty visits Louisiana Tech after Bella Smuda scored 24 points in Liberty’s 62-53 victory against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

The Lady Techsters are 10-1 in home games. Louisiana Tech is second in the CUSA in rebounding averaging 34.5 rebounds. Jordan Marshall leads the Lady Techsters with 7.9 boards.

The Flames have gone 8-1 against CUSA opponents. Liberty is third in the CUSA giving up 61.6 points while holding opponents to 36.5% shooting.

Louisiana Tech scores 66.5 points per game, 4.9 more points than the 61.6 Liberty gives up. Liberty has shot at a 46.5% clip from the field this season, 6.3 percentage points above the 40.2% shooting opponents of Louisiana Tech have averaged.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Paris Bradley is averaging 12.4 points and 1.6 steals for the Lady Techsters. Robyn Lee is averaging 12.5 points over the last 10 games.

Jordan Hodges is averaging 6.7 points for the Flames. Smuda is averaging 12 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lady Techsters: 5-5, averaging 67.3 points, 34.3 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 7.0 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 41.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.0 points per game.

Flames: 8-2, averaging 70.1 points, 36.4 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 5.9 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.6 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.