SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The No. 21-ranked West Liberty University women's basketball team scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed here Saturday afternoon in beating Notre Dame (Ohio), 77-68, in a rematch of last season's Mountain East Conference Tournament championship game at Murphy Gymnasium.
Coach
Lynn Ullom's defending MEC champion Hilltoppers (3-1, 1-0) led by as many as 19 points on several occasions during the first half before settling for a 45-28 halftime lead over the host Falcons (2-2, 0-1) in the mutual conference opener.
The lead was still 19 points, 52-33, following a pair of
Johnie Olkosky free throws with
6:48 left in the third quarter but Notre Dame took advantage of some serious West Liberty foul trouble to make things interesting.
With several WLU starters looking on from the bench, the Falcons – picked to finish third in the MEC coaches' preseason poll – closed the quarter on a 17-9 run to trail just 61-50 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Notre Dame kept the pressure on at the start of the fourth quarter and made it a two-possession game when Martha Nagbe – the 2015 MEC Player of the Year – dropped in a 17-foot rainbow with just over 8 minutes to play.
West Liberty refused to fold as
Emily Bucon answered with her third 3-pointer of the afternoon.
After a defensive stop, Kiki Simpson spun inside for a layup and true freshman
Brandi Beader followed with a clutch 3-pointer from deep in the corner for a 69-56 Hilltopper lead at the
6:10 mark.
Notre Dame never got closer than 8 points the rest of the way and the Hilltoppers had successfully weathered the storm.
Flowers went over the 1,500-point mark for her career, finishing with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, while Simpson also had a strong outing with 14 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Olkosky drained a trio of 3-pointers and scored 13 points while Bucon stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Senior guard
Kailee Howe added 6 points and a game-high 11 assists.
Nagbe finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds – both game-highs – to pace the Falcons. Lauren Langenderfer added 14 points while Kelsey Miller and Ciara Reed finished with 11 points each.
The West Liberty women hit the MEC road again Monday night with a 5:30 p.m. game at Urbana.
