WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Kiki Simpson tied a career-high with 24 points and the No. 19-ranked West Liberty women never trailed Saturday afternoon in downing Fairmont State, 80-74, at the ASRC.

Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (7-1, 4-0) scored 10 of the game's first 12 points and led by double-figures on numerous occasions but were never quite able to shift into coast mode against the upset-minded Falcons (5-3, 1-3).

West Liberty tied its largest lead of the day, 67-54, when Liz Flowers drained a 3-pointer at the 8:39 mark of the fourth quarter but Fairmont refused to fold.

Deidra Combs' 8-foot leaner capped a 13-3 Falcon run that trimmed the deficit to three points, 70-67, with 4:32 remaining.

Simpson, who was a blistering 9-of-10 from the floor on the afternoon, stopped the bleeding with a strong post move at the other end to make it 72-67.

Following a Fairmont miss, Johnie Olkosky couldn't get a 3-pointer to drop but Simpson pulled the rebound and whipped it back out to Olkosky. The freshman guard whipped a bullet pass to fellow freshman backcourter Brandi Beader, who drained a dagger of a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner for a 77-70 bulge with 3:33 to go.

The lead never dropped below five points the rest of the way.

Simpson stuffed the stat sheet with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks in just 26 minutes of action. Her 9-for-10 shooting performance from the floor included the first 3-pointer of her career, which she banked home off the glass just ahead of the first quarter buzzer.

"It is so satisfying as a coach to see a player like Kiki be rewarded for her work ethic," Ullom said. "She has made herself better every year and gone from being a seldom-used freshman to one of the most dominant post players in the region."

Olkosky had a strong game with 15 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, Flowers added 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and Baylen Dyrlund came off the bench with 10 points and 6 boards.

National assist leader Kailee Howe struggled through a tough shooting day but still made a run at a triple-double with 9 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists. Her ninth point gave her exactly 1,000 points for her career.

Amanda Ruffner and Makenzie White led four double-figure scorers for Fairmont with 21 and 19 points, respectively.

"We didn't bring our 'A' game today, and probably not even our 'B' game," Ullom said, "but we played well enough in spurts to beat a pretty good basketball team. We can play better but I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day."

The Hilltoppers return to action on Dec. 13 when they host Clarion (Pa.) in a non-conference tilt. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the ASRC.

GAME NOTES

X Simpson leads the MEC and ranks among the Top 10 nationally this season in field-goal percentage and blocked shots

X Howe became the 30th member of West Liberty's 1,000-Point Club. Adrianne Harlow is No. 29 on the list at 1,005

X Flowers passed Lena Kalvans to take over the No. 4 spot on WLU's career scoring list with 1,583 points. Ashlea Bland is No. 3 at 1,628

X Flowers also became only the seventh Lady Hilltopper to reach 400 career assists. She now stands at 402

X Senior guard Jasmin Kiley made her season debut on Saturday. Kiley is easing her way back into competition following off-season surgery