CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Kiki Simpson grabbed an NCAA Tournament record 29 rebounds and the West Liberty University women overcame a 13-point second-half deficit here Friday to pull out an 88-85 overtime win against West Chester in an Atlantic Region quarterfinal at Hamer Hall on the campus of California (Pa.) University.

Coach Lynn Ullom's No. 5-seeded Hilltoppers (24-8) will take on the winner of Friday's late quarterfinal between top-seeded tournament host California, Pa. (26-4), ranked No. 14 in the nation, and No. 8 seed Virginia State (19-9).

West Liberty and West Chester (24-6) battled to a 33-33 deadlock at halftime but the No. 4-seeded Rams took charge early in the second half with a blurry fast 12-0 run that used up less than 2 minutes on the clock.

Fueled by 3-point bombs from Chikisia Steele-Hook and 2-time All-Region standout Dallas Ely, West Chester turned a 36-35 Hilltopper lead into a 47-36 Ram advantage with just over 17 minutes on the clock.

The lead eventually reached 13 points on a driving layup by Jasmen Clark at the 15-minute mark but West Liberty refused to fold. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Hillary Southworth and Liz Flowers seemed to spark the Black and Gold and the Hilltoppers began chipping away at the deficit.

Bri Kamarec completed the rally with a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a kick-out pass from Kailee Howe and West Liberty was back on top, 64-63, with 6:10 remaining.

Neither team led by more than three points over the final six minutes of regulation.

Brittany Sicinski, who had a strong game for WCU, got a tough left-handed layup to drop for a 73-70 lead with 52 seconds to go but the Hilltoppers' Jenn Mohney beat the shot clock with a rainbow 3-pointer at the 23-second mark to tie the game and force it into overtime.

There were four ties and seven lead changes in the overtime period alone but once again it was West Liberty coming up big in the final minute.

Southworth put WLU up, 84-83, on her fourth 3-pointer of the game with 53 seconds left in overtime but Sicinski answered again with a hotly-contested drive to the hoop for an 85-84 West Chester edge with 43 seconds left.

But Howe – who scored 19 of her team-high 22 points in the second half and overtime – drew a foul just across midcourt and calmly splashed home two free throws to put West Liberty ahead to stay, 86-85, with 32 seconds on the clock.

Ely tried to slash her way to the hoop but Simpson capped an "Ironwoman" performance with her final blocked shot, pushing the ball over to Southworth who got it to Howe for two more free throws with 19 seconds to go.

West Chester had two chances at a game-tying 3-pointer but couldn't get either one to drop before the buzzer touched off a Hilltopper celebration.

Howe had 7 assists to go along with her 22 points while Southworth finished with 20 points. Liz Flowers added 12 points and 6 assists before fouling out at the start of overtime.

But it was Simpson who put up one of the most memorable games in Lady Hilltopper history. The 5-10 post played all 45 minutes, putting up 13 points to go along with her record-setting rebound total. She had a huge impact on the defensive end, as well, blocking 5 shots and altering countless others as WLU held the Rams to 36 percent (31-of-86) shooting from the floor.

Ely led all scorers with 25 points while Sicinski and Clark finished with 22 and 16, respectively.

GAME NOTES

X Saturday's 5 p.m. semifinal pits No. 3 seed Bloomsburg (25-4) against No. 7 seed Shepherd (22-9). Bloomsburg came from behind to beat Gannon, 81-76, in their quarterfinal while the Rams pulled away late to shock No. 11-ranked Indiana (Pa.), 68-60.

X Simpson's 29 rebounds are a school record, breaking the 33-year-old record of 25 rebounds by Raeanne Ponzo against Concord on Feb. 17, 1982

X Simpson has now shattered her own school single-season record of 347, set just last year. The junior post now has 363 rebounds this season

X Simpson's record-setting performance pushed her past Ponzo and Erica Bevington into third place on WLU's career rebounding list at 782

X Friday's win was West Liberty's third overtime victory in its last four games