Women's Basketball | 2/1/2014 4:59:00 PM
Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team got it done on defense Saturday afternoon, outlasting Charleston, 46-45, at the ASRC to move into a third-place tie in the Mountain East Conference.
"Our girls proved to themselves today that you don't have to score a ton of points to win basketball games," Hilltopper head coach Lynn Ullom said. "This was by far our best defensive game of the year."
The Golden Eagles (12-6, 8-6) took a 24-23 lead into the locker room following a defensive grind of a first half that saw 9 lead changes in the final 7 minutes. It was the lowest scoring first half of the season for both teams.
Defense continued to be the theme when play resumed but Bri Kamarec hit a pair of 3-pointers to put West Liberty (12-8, 9-5) ahead to stay, 29-28, with 15:33 remaining.
Coming off a career-high 19 points in Thursday's win against Notre Dame, Kamarec led WLU in scoring again with 12 points on Saturday.
"Bri had another big game for us on both ends of the floor," Ullom said. "Not only did she hit some big shots for us, she held the leading 3-point shooter in the conference (UC's LeAnne Ross) to zero points and only one 3-point attempt all day."
Kamarec gave West Liberty its biggest lead of the second half, 44-39, with a clutch 3-pointer at the 3:49 mark but UC refused to fold.
A turnaround jumper in the lane by the Eagles' Tianni Kelly made it a one-possession game, 44-41, with 3:30 to go.
Defense dominated the next 2 ½ minutes before WLU's Kailee Howe knifed into the lane and slipped a pass to Kiki Simpson for a 46-41 lead as the clock ticked under a minute.
Charleston made things interesting down the stretch. A runner by DeJanique Reddix made it 46-43 with 29 seconds left and Reddix followed with a steal and a layup for a 46-45 count with 22 ticks still on the clock.
Howe missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 19 seconds remaining but UC couldn't capitalize as Nichole Perry's driving attempt at a game-winner rolled off the iron with 2 seconds left and the horn sounded during the scramble for the rebound.
Simpson backed Kamarec's 12 points with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Jasmin Kiley added 8 points, Liz Flowers chipped in with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists and Colleen McCormick came off the bench to grab 8 rebounds in just 16 minutes of action.
Monet Saunders was Charleston's lone double-figure scorer with 12 points as UC made just 17-of-55 shots from the floor and was out-rebounded by a 42-37 margin.
The Hilltoppers hit the road for another crucial MEC test on Monday when they travel to West Virginia State for a 5:30 p.m. game.
