FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Meghan Wiseman scored a career-high 26 points and the West Liberty University women's basketball team extended its late-season run with a 72-62 victory Saturday afternoon at Fairmont State's Joe Retton Arena.

It was the eighth win in the last nine games for Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (17-6, 15-4), who have taken a firm hold on second place in the West Virginia Conference standings heading into the final week of the regular season.

The host Falcons (16-9, 14-6), who had handed West Liberty a 72-63 loss last month at the ASRC, were in third place coming into Saturday's rematch but saw Wiseman and her Hilltopper teammates all but put this game out of reach before halftime.

West Liberty struggled in the early going and the Falcons held a 16-11 lead as the first half clock ticked past the midway point.

That's when the Hilltoppers slammed the door on the defensive end while stepping up the intensity at the other end of the court.

The visitors held Fairmont State to just 4 points over the final 10 minutes of the first half and closed out the opening period on a dazzling 22-4 run that sent the Black and Gold jogging off the court with a 33-20 lead.

With the Falcons determined to hold WLU's Hillary Southworth – the nation's second-leading scorer – in check, the court opened up for Southworth's teammates and they took full advantage.

Wiseman, a senior post, had 9 of her 26 points in the first half but Liz Flowers added 8 points, Southworth beat the defensive pressure for 7 points and 8 rebounds, and Emily Blevins added 6 points to account for all but 3 of the visitors' first-half scoring.

West Liberty led by as many as 19 points midway through the second half after a pair of Wiseman free throws pushed the count to 50-31.

The Falcons tried to mount a comeback and were able to trim the margin as low as 6 points on several occasions but the Hilltoppers wouldn't let them get any closer.

Fairmont's last gasp came in the final 2 minutes when the Falcons cut the lead to 67-60 only to see West Liberty run the shot clock down into single digits before Wiseman fed Southworth in the corner for a dagger of a 3-pointer and a 70-60 lead with just 90 seconds left.

Despite the defensive attention, Southworth backed Wiseman with 19 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Flowers added 16 points, including a 7-for-8 showing at the charity stripe, while Blevins finished with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Kaitlin Snyder and Emily Lohr had 17 and 16 points, respectively, for the hosts.

The Hilltoppers return home on Monday to host Shepherd in a 5:30 p.m. game at the ASRC.

GAME NOTES

X Fairmont had won 5 of the last 6 meetings between the two teams at Joe Retton Arena

X Wiseman collected her 600th career rebound and her 150th career block

X The Hilltoppers improved to 103-26 (.798) in February games since the 2000-01 season

X Southworth had her school-record streak of consecutive games with 25 or more points snapped at 8

X West Liberty shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the floor. The Hilltoppers are 7-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor this year and a sizzling 51-1 in such games over the past 8 seasons