WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team broke open a close game with a 17-0 first-half run here Saturday afternoon and breezed to an 88-66 victory against West Virginia Wesleyan at the ASRC.

It was the fourth straight win for Coach Lynn Ullom's Lady Hilltoppers (10-4, 7-1), who have moved into a share of the Mountain East Conference lead, and the 32nd consecutive loss for the winless Bobcats (0-10, 0-7) dating back to the 2013-14 season.

"Despite their record, Wesleyan always plays hard and they've had some close games against some very good teams," Ullom said. "We were able to create some separation with that run at the end of the first half and maintained that lead the rest of the way."

An Allyson Friermuth post move pulled Wesleyan within a point, 21-20, just past the midway point of the opening half but that's when West Liberty went into lockdown mode.

The Hilltoppers held the Bobcats scoreless for the next seven minutes while reeling off 17 unanswered points.

Jenn Mohney accounted for 9 of those points with a pair of 3-pointers and a conventional 3-point play at the end of a fast break.

"We got a little more aggressive on defense, which created some transition scoring chances," Ullom said, "and when we got open shots, we knocked them down."

A pair of Emily Bucon free throws capped the surge, giving WLU an insurmountable 40-22 lead with 3:07 showing on the first half clock. Bucon, returning from a foot injury, was seeing her first action since a Dec. 6 game at Urbana.

"It was good to see Emily back on the floor," Ullom said, "and I think she gave us a nice little lift. We hope to have Hillary (Southworth) available for a few minutes at Glenville on Monday night so we're starting to get back closer to full strength."

Southworth, a 2012 NCAA Division II first-team All-American, has been out since a Dec. 4 game against Notre Dame (OH) after sitting out the entire 2013-14 season as an injury redshirt.

The Hilltoppers carried a 46-27 lead into the half and led by as many as 23 points in the second half en route to the double-digit win.

Mohney and Jasmin Kiley led the scoring parade with 21 and 20 points, respectively, while Kailee Howe just missed a double-double with 8 points and 15 assists. Leading scorer Liz Flowers not only racked up her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds, she stuffed the stat sheet with 4 assists and 4 blocked shots.

"I was really proud of the way Liz stepped up today," Ullom noted. "Even though she was having trouble getting her shots to drop, she was still a major presence on the court with her rebounding, shot blocking, passing and defense. She's much more than just a scorer."

Allie Browne hit 5 3-pointers and finished with 17 points to pace the Bobcats.

The West Liberty women hit the road Monday night with a 5:30 p.m. game at defending MEC champion Glenville State.