BOX SCORE

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team slammed the defensive door on Elizabeth City State in the second half Saturday night in rallying to a season-opening 63-56 victory before an appreciative crowd at the West Liberty Women's Tip-Off Classic.

The Hilltoppers led by as many as 10 points in the first half but the Vikings closed out the half on a 13-0 run to take a 32-29 lead into the locker room at intermission.

“Give the girls all the credit,” West Liberty head coach Lynn Ullom said. “I told them at halftime that we had to step it up defensively if we were going to win this game and they did it.

“Elizabeth City State is a very good basketball team and we held them to seven baskets and 25 percent shooting in the second half. That was the key to the game.”

The Vikings took their largest lead of the night, 39-34, on a steal and runout layup by Shatara Jackson as the clock turned past 15 minutes but that was where the Hilltopper defense clamped down.

West Liberty held ECSU scoreless for nearly 5 minutes while putting together the 11-0 run that put the hosts ahead to stay.

Senior guard Kayla Ayers closed out the surge with a 3-pointer for a 45-39 lead at the 10:05 mark before Elizabeth City's Jasmine Walker finally broke the scoring drought with a drive to the hoop but the Hilltoppers didn't miss a beat.

West Liberty pulled out to its largest lead of the night, 58-46, on another Ayers bonus bomb at the 4:24 mark and the visitors never got the margin under 6 points the rest of the night.

“Emily Blevins had a great defensive night in the paint,” Ullom said. “They have some very strong posts but Emily really held her own in some very tough match-ups.”

Ayers led all scorers with a career-high 25 points while also yanking down 8 rebounds. Sophomore transfer Hillary Southworth knocked down 15 points and grabbed 7 boards in her WLU debut while Blevins finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds – both matching career-highs.

“It wasn't a matter of how many points Kayla scored tonight,” Ullom said, “it was when she scored them. Kayla always seemed to come through with the big shot when we needed it.”

Jackson paced Elizabeth City State with 19 points while Stephanie Harper added 15 points and 9 rebounds in a losing cause.

“This is one of the most satisfying wins I've had in my 21 seasons,” Ullom said. “The girls had to overcome a lot of adversity with all the injuries in the preseason and they had to overcome some adversity tonight but they found a way to get it done.

“We had a lot of girls filling different roles tonight and I'm really proud of the way they came through.”

West Liberty closes out the Tip-Off Classic on Sunday with a 4 p.m. game against St. Augustine's (N.C.)

GAME NOTES

X Elizabeth City State takes on West Virginia Wesleyan in Sunday's first game at 2 p.m.

X St. Augustine's held off Wesleyan, 66-64, in Saturday's tourney opener

X West Liberty improved to 23-1 in non-conference home games since the ASRC opened during the 2000-01 season

X The Hilltoppers also opened the 2010-11 season with a win against Elizabeth City State, edging the Vikings by a 59-58 score in Elizabeth City