WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – A road-weary West Liberty University women's basketball team nearly overcame a 17-point second-half deficit Thursday night only to see host Charleston pull away to a 76-67 victory at UC's Eddie King Gym.

Playing for the seventh time in 13 nights, the Hilltoppers (6-3, 3-1) trailed throughout with the Golden Eagles (3-3, 2-1) pushing a 44-33 halftime lead as high as 57-40 at 11:59 of the second half.

Things got interesting when West Liberty finally found the range from the perimeter. The visitors rained down 8 long-range shots in the game's final 12 minutes to mount an extended run.

The Hilltoppers cut the margin to 5 points, 63-58, on a Kayla Ayers 3-pointer with 5:13 remaining and had three possessions with a chance to make it a one-possession game only to come up empty each time as Charleston held on for the win.

Hillary Southworth led West Liberty with a game-high 19 points while Emily Blevins and Chelsea Bradley added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Ayers turned in her second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with just under 3 minutes to play.

Lauren Davis paced UC with 17 points – including a staggering 15-of-19 showing from the charity stripe – while Erika Rousculp contributed 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

The Hilltoppers were a season-high 15-of-36 from behind the 3-point arc, compared to just 3-of-11 for Charleston, but the Golden Eagles more than made up for that with whopping advantages off the glass and at the foul line.

Charleston won the battle of the boards by a 52-39 margin and hit 25-of-34 free throws while West Liberty was awarded only 10 foul tosses all night, converting just four.

The Hilltoppers head south on Saturday to close out their challenging first semester schedule with a 5 p.m. non-conference game at Winston-Salem (N.C.) State.