Basketball Recap: Liberty's Loss Ends Four-Game Winning Streak at Home

Liberty entered their matchup against O'Connor on Monday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. The Liberty Lions fell 64-57 to the O'Connor Eagles. Sadly, that's the second time they've come up short against the Lions this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 72-45 last Wednesday.

Despite the defeat, Liberty saw an underclassman step up: freshman Francesca Sofia posted 23 points along with five assists and three steals. That was a full 40.4% of Liberty's points, marking the sixth time in a row she's scored more than a third of the team's points. Emma Koker was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on nine points and ten rebounds.

Leading O'Connor to victory were Ava Schooler and Audrey Bhesania. Schooler went 11 for 16 en route to 26 points, while Bhesania went 6 of 11 on her way to 20 points. The game was Bhesania's seventh in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Bella Elsholz, who earned two points and six boards.

Liberty's loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-8. As for O'Connor, the victory was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 10-7.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Liberty Lions face off against the Boulder Creek Jaguars at 7:00 p.m. on January 28th. As for O'Connor, they will challenge Pinnacle at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Pinnacle knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past four contests -- so hopefully O'Connor likes a good challenge.