JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Hillary Southworth scored a career-high 43 points and West Liberty rallied to a 98-90 overtime win against Pitt-Johnstown Thursday night in West Virginia Conference women's basketball action at the UPJ Sports Center.

The comeback victory clinched a runner-up finish in the West Virginia Conference for Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (18-7, 16-5), who overcame a 13-point deficit in the final 5 1/2 minutes of regulation to force overtime and dominated the extra period.

Southworth and senior post Meghan Wiseman keyed the second-half surge for the Black and Gold.

The nation's second-leading scorer at 23.6 ppg., Southworth poured in 19 of her 43 points in the final 5 minutes of regulation and overtime while Wiseman tallied 11 of her 24 points during that span while playing with four personal fouls.

It was a very different story for the first 35 minutes of regulation as Pitt-Johnstown (14-10, 12-9) opened the game on a 9-0 run and led by as many as 16 points in the first half before settling for a 48-34 margin at intermission.

The Hilltoppers got as close as 5 points in the early minutes of the second half but UPJ regained control and appeared to have put the game on ice after stretching back out to a 74-61 lead on a Kaitlynn Fratz layup with just 5:29 to play.

But Southworth nailed a 3-pointer and tacked on a steal and runout layup to ignite the West Liberty comeback.

The junior scoring ace capped a 16-2 run and gave WLU its first lead of the night, 77-76, with a drive to the hoop at 1:13.

The teams traded leads several times during the final minute and the Hilltoppers caught one final break when Fratz went to the line for a pair of free throws with just 5 seconds left and West Liberty clinging to an 81-80 lead.

An 80-percent foul shooter, Fratz tied the game at 81-81 with her first free throw but watched the second one spin off the iron, sending the game into overtime.

The final 5 minutes were all Hilltoppers as Southworth put West Liberty ahead to stay, 83-81, just 20 seconds into the extra frame when she cashed in a nice feed from Jordan Stacey. Wiseman followed with a pair of free throws and the visitors were on their way, leading by as many as 10 points before a late UPJ basket settled the final margin.

Jasmin Kiley was the only other Hilltopper in double figures with 10 points while Stacey contributed a game-high 11 rebounds. Fratz and Nicole Carman finished with 24 points each for the Mountain Cats.

West Liberty closes out the regular season at home on Saturday with a 2 p.m. game against Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit.

GAME NOTES

X Southworth's 43 points came up just shy of Melissa Hammond's school-record 44-point night against West Virginia State on Feb. 13, 1992

X The 43 points are the third-highest total by an NCAA Division II woman this season

X West Liberty clinched the No. 2 seed in next week's WVIAC Tournament and will host Ohio Valley in a first-round game Monday night at the ASRC

X The Hilltoppers improved to 104-27 (.794) in February games since the 2001 season