Women's Basketball | 1/30/2014 9:37:00 PM
Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Junior guard Bri Kamarec tossed in a career-high 19 points and stuffed the stat sheet across the board Thursday night to lead the West Liberty University women to an 80-64 victory against Notre Dame in Mountain East Conference action at the ASRC.
"I thought we jumped on Bri's back in the first half and she carried us the rest of the way tonight," WLU head coach Lynn Ullom said after seeing his Lady Hilltoppers (11-8, 8-5) collect their fourth win in the last five games and the eighth in their last 11.
"She hit some big baskets for us but it wasn't just the points. It was the rebounds, the assists, the steals, the hustle plays. That's the Bri we've seen glimpses of during her three years here and we've shown that we can be a pretty good basketball team when people step up like that."
That trait was on full display Thursday night as Kamarec – who also had 5 rebounds, a career-high 5 assists and a pair of steals – didn't lack for support. Kiki Simpson worked the paint for a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Kailee Howe just missed a triple-double with 10 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds in a dazzling display.
"Kailee's becoming more and more comfortable playing the point," Ullom said. "When she's aggressive and attacking as she was tonight, it opens up a lot of opportunities for her teammates."
Kiley opened the game with a 3-pointer and the Hilltoppers never trailed.
West Liberty led by as many as 14 points in the first half before settling for a 42-35 lead at intermission.
Notre Dame (9-7, 6-6) cut the lead to 54-51 on a post move by Erin Entinghe with 10:24 remaining but Bucon answered with a 3-point bomb to ignite a 10-0 Hilltopper run. Kamarec capped the surge with a driving layup to make it 64-51 with 7:46 to go and West Liberty was on its way.
Martha Nagbe scored 16 points in a losing cause for the Falcons.
West Liberty returns to action Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. game against Charleston at the ASRC.
