It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Liberty can now relate to. They lost 66-40 to the Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders on Tuesday. While losing is never fun, the Patriots can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 288th, while the Crusaders are ranked 140th).
Despite the defeat, Liberty saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Ellee Statler shot 50% from the field on her way to 23 points in addition to seven rebounds and five steals. Statler has been hot, having posted three or more steals the last five times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Brooke Tallon, who posted six points and seven boards.
Mater Dei Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Promise Martin led the charge by dropping a double-double with ten points and 12 rebounds. Martin also grabbed five steals, which is notable because Mater Dei Catholic is 10-4 when she posts at least five steals, but 8-9 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Jordyn Worley, who had 14 points along with five boards and four steals.
Patriots
| 03/04/25 @ Mater Dei Catholic | 40-66 |
| 03/01/25 vs Shafter | 49-40 |
| 02/20/25 vs Lompoc | 44-40 |
| 02/18/25 @ Sanger | 40-38 |
| 02/14/25 vs Kerman | 50-46 |
With the loss, Liberty broke their six-game winning streak and moved their record to 17-13. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.5 points over those games. As for Mater Dei Catholic, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-13 record this season.
Liberty does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Mater Dei Catholic, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 59-52 victory against Carlsbad on the 6th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
