Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (6-6, 3-3) held the Cavaliers (6-4, 2-4) to just 33 percent shooting from the floor and dominated the backboards at both ends of the court, posting a 53-31 rebounding advantage in the blowout win.
"We did a much better job of concentrating on the defensive end tonight," Ullom said. "We were impressed by how well Wise runs their offense when we were doing our game prep but I thought for about two-thirds of the game tonight, we locked down pretty well.
"When we're able to string some defensive stops together and rebound, it allows us to get out and run. That's when we're at our best."
Junior sharpshooter Jenn Mohney fueled West Liberty's fast start, scoring 11 of her 16 points in the first 5 minutes to stake the hosts to an early 15-5 lead.
The former Wheeling Central standout was all over the court, pouring in 19 of her career-high 23 points in the first half while forcing turnovers, tracking down loose balls and even helping out with post defense in a pinch.
In 26 minutes of action, Bucon was 6-for-8 from the floor, 3-for-5 from the 3-point arc and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe while grabbing 4 rebounds, handing out a pair of assists and picking up a steal and a blocked shot.
"We got a tremendous effort from Emily tonight," Ullom said. "She plays so hard she makes a lot of good things happen but we had a lot of contributions from a lot of people. It was nice to get back in the win column."
Liz Flowers backed Bucon with 21 points while Mohney had 8 rebounds to go along with her 16 points. Kailee Howe wasn't far from a triple-double with 9 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds and Kiki Simpson finished with just 2 points but grabbed 13 rebounds, blocked 3 shots and came up with a pair of steals despite being limited to 17 minutes by foul trouble.
Rynesha Archer came off the bench to lead UVA-Wise with 19 points.
"We're in the middle of a stretch now where we play something like 5 games in a 10-day span so it's a great opportunity for us," UIlom said. "This would be a good time to build off a win like this and make a little run."
West Liberty heads to Shepherd on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. game.
