Women's Basketball | 1/3/2011 6:00:37 PM

BOX SCORE

ATHENS, W.Va. – West Liberty University women's basketball coach Lynn Ullom notched his 400th career victory in impressive fashion here Monday afternoon as the Lady Hilltoppers rode a strong second half to a 97-62 rout of Concord on the Mountain Lions' home boards at the Carter Center.

Laura Malernee led all scorers with a season-high 26 points and keyed a decisive 20-0 second-half surge for West Liberty (9-1, 4-0) as the Hilltoppers won their eighth straight game to hang onto first place in the West Virginia Conference standings.

The senior sharpshooter received plenty of support from senior guard Tori Hansen, who tossed in 24 points, and sophomore backcourt ace Jenni Robbins, who scored 22 points and handed out a game-high 8 assists while draining a sizzling 6-of-7 shots from behind the 3-point arc. Junior wing Jordan Stacey had just 2 points but cleared a game-high 12 rebounds to help WLU post a commanding 45-31 advantage off the glass.

Concord (5-5, 2-4) was still within range, trailing just 51-46 with 15 minutes to play, when Malernee found the range and took off on one of her familiar “bombing” runs.

The 5-11 wing, who became the WVIAC's career 3-point leader earlier this season, rained in 4-of-5 3-point shots and added a pair of free throws for good measure to account for 14 of 20 unanswered Hilltopper points over a span of just 3:37.

That scoring blitz pushed the West Liberty lead out to 71-46 with 11:22 remaining and left the final score as the only thing remaining to be decided. Concord never got the margin below 20 points again and the Hilltopper reserves continued to build on the margin after Ullom cleared his bench over the final few minutes.

The Mountain Lions got 15 points from Kristin Kidd and 13 more from Sidney Lindsey in a losing cause.

The West Liberty women are back on the road again Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff at Wheeling Jesuit.

Game Notes
    X Already the winningest coach in West Virginia women's basketball history, Ullom has averaged 20 wins a year in his two decades at the West Liberty helm. Monday's win upped his record to saw 400-178 (.692) in 20 years with the Hilltoppers
    X Malernee is now tied with Sarah Condra of Christian Brothers (2000-04) for third place on the NCAA Division II 3-point field goal leaderboard with 368 career bonus bombs. The record of 385 is held by Lorie Martinez of Texas A&M-Kingsville (1998-01). Tusculum's Ashli Oliver (2006-09) is No. 2 at 375.
    X The national women's collegiate record of 397 career 3-pointers was set last year by Melissa Beyruti of NCAA Division III Kean (N.J.)
    X Monday's win was West Liberty's 21st consecutive victory in the series with Concord. The Mountain Lions haven't beaten the Hilltoppers since the 1992-93 season