Women's Basketball | 1/17/2015 5:15:00 PM
Box Score FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team snapped Fairmont State's 7-game winning streak and took over sole possession of second place in the Mountain East Conference hereSaturday afternoon with a 77-74 victory at Joe Retton Arena.
The homestanding Falcons (13-3, 7-3) come all the way back from a 15-point second half deficit to take a one-point lead down the stretch but Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (11-5, 8-2) held Fairmont without a field goal over the final 3 ½ minutes to secure the win. After leading for all but 44 seconds of the first half, West Liberty took a 43-35 lead at the break and picked up where it had left off when play resumed.
The Hilltoppers took their biggest lead of the game, 59-44, when Kailee Howe found a wide-open Baylen Dyrlund under the basket for an uncontested layup with 13:49 remaining. Fairmont State, which hadn't lost since a Dec. 4 game against Charleston, took advantage of some WLU foul trouble to get back in the game with a 16-2 run.
Emily Lohr capped the surge with a deep 3-pointer, cutting the West Liberty lead to 61-60 with 10:31to play but Liz Flowers stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer of her own to keep the Hilltoppers in front. The Falcons kept things close the rest of the way but couldn't get over the hump until Deidre Combs hit a running 8-footer with 3:32 to play that gave Fairmont State a 72-71 lead.
Both teams locked down defensively for the next few possessions before Flowers banked in a 10-footer to put WLU ahead to stay, 73-72, with 1:55 on the clock.
Hillary Southworth followed with a slick post-up move to make it 75-72 with 1:24 to go and Howe pushed the count to 77-72 with a pair of free throws as the Hilltopper defense kept Fairmont at bay. Garrett produced the hosts' only points of the final 3 ½ minutes with two free throws at the 21-second mark. The Falcons got the ball back with a chance to tie with 14 seconds left but were unable to get a 3-point shot off before the horn.
Flowers led the way for WLU with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists while Southworth celebrated her return to the starting lineup with a 19-point game. Howe posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Kiki Simpson just missed a double-double with 9 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Garrett had a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for Fairmont State while Hallie Gunnoe added 19 points and Lohr finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The West Liberty women return home to host Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the ASRC.
