WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 18-ranked West Liberty University women's basketball team held Clarion (Pa.) to just four baskets in the second half Sunday in a 67-49 non-conference win at the ASRC.

Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (8-1) opened the game with a 13-2 burst and led by as many as 17 points, 22-5, with 90 seconds left in the first quarter before settling for a 24-10 advantage at the break.

West Liberty went cold in the second frame, however, and the Golden Eagles (3-7) began to chip away at the deficit.

Clarion trailed just 34-32 at halftime following a late Tyra Polite 3-pointer and Delrika Carey-Jones opened the third quarter with a power move to the rim, producing the only tie of the game at 34-34 and forcing Ullom into a timeout.

"We fell in love with the 3-pointer a little bit and started forcing up bad shots instead of working for good shots," Ullom said. "Give Clarion credit. Even though we jumped on them early, they kept competing and they were able to come back and make things interesting."

The Hilltoppers continued to struggle from the perimeter but senior post Kiki Simpson began filling it up in the paint and the Black and Gold stepped up their efforts on the defensive end.

West Liberty held Clarion without a basket for the next seven minutes as Simpson fueled an 11-1 run that put the hosts solidly in control.

Simpson poured in 10 of her game-high 21 points in the third quarter and the Hilltoppers took a 48-41 lead into the final 10 minutes.

"Kiki carried us at times today," Ullom said. "I'm really happy to see her emerging as a more consistent scoring threat inside. That's something we're going to need down the road if we want to take this to the next level."

Clarion didn't make another shot from the floor until just over a minute remained in the game and the lid finally came off the basket for the West Liberty shooters with Baylen Dyrlund hitting WLU's first 3-pointer since the opening quarter in the first two minutes of the final stanza for a 53-42 Hilltopper lead.

Liz Flowers, who had missed nearly the entire second half with foul trouble, returned to the court with four minutes remaining to provide an offensive spark. The senior guard drained a trio of 3-pointers and added a driving layup in the last four minutes as the hosts finally put the game on ice.

Simpson was a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor and had a game-high 12 rebounds – 10 in the second half – to go along with her 21 points for a double-double. Emily Bucon had her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds while handing out six assists. 

Flowers poured in four 3-pointers and scored 20 points in just 23 minutes of game action while Kailee Howe dished out 11 assists and grabbed six rebounds.

Polite matched Simpson's game-high with 21 points for Clarion while Carey-Jones added a dozen points.

The Hilltoppers close out their pre-Christmas slate on Wednesday against Salem International. Tipoff is set for 5:00 p.m. at Salem.