WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team stormed back from a double-digit halftime deficit to win their fourth straight game Saturday afternoon, squeezing past UVA-Wise, 81-79, in a nail-biter at the ASRC.

Kailee Howe forged the game's final tie, 78-78, with a driving layup at the 45-second mark and Jenn Mohney drained a pair of clutch free throws with just 13 ticks remaining to put the Hilltoppers (16-7, 13-4) ahead to stay as they completed a season sweep of the upset-minded Cavaliers (8-15, 7-10). West Liberty had rallied in similar fashion to escape with a 77-71 victory in last month's game at UVA-Wise.

"I think everybody in our locker room realizes how fortunate we were to pull that one out," said WLU head coach Lynn Ullom. "We took a major step back on defense today. I'm just glad we were able to make enough plays down the stretch that we're sitting here talking about the mistakes we made after a win instead of after a loss."

The Hilltoppers shot a sizzling 55 percent (34-of-61) from the floor while holding the visitors to just 37 percent (22-of-58) on the afternoon but the scrappy Cavaliers never stopped attacking the basket and West Liberty never stopped sending them to the free throw line.

UVA-Wise hit 19-of-22 charity tosses in the first half alone to build a 45-33 lead at the break and finished the game hitting 31-of-36 (86 percent) from the line to stay in the game until the final buzzer.

The Hilltoppers shot well from the floor but were a season-low 2-of-11 from the 3-point arc and made just 11-of-20 free throw attempts.

West Liberty started chipping away at the Cavalier lead when play resumed in the second half and took its first lead since early in the game, 57-55, on a conventional 3-point play by Kailee Howe with 10:43 left in regulation.

Howe was almost unstoppable down the stretch, pouring in 19 of her game-high 29 points during the final 10:43, but UVA-Wise refused to fold. Neither team led by more than 3 points down the stretch and there were 7 ties and 7 lead changes the rest of the way.

Since the teams combined for 47 fouls and 56 free throws, it wasn't surprising that the foul line played a major role in deciding the outcome.

After Mohney knocked down her two free throws to give West Liberty a late 80-78 lead, the Cavaliers had a chance to tie it when leading scorer Blair Harding was fouled with just 6 seconds to play.

Unfortunately for UVA-Wise, Harding – who had gone 6-for-7 from the line to that point – made just 1-of-2 and Howe tacked on a free throw at the other end to conclude the scoring.

Howe posted her eighth double-double in the last nine games with 10 assists to go along with her 29 points. Flowers added 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists while Kiki Simpson had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks before fouling out down the stretch. Hillary Southworth rounded out WLU's double-figure scorers with 14 points. 

Harding paced UVA-Wise with 25 points and 9 rebounds while Taylor Sandidge went 12-for-14 from the foul line and finished with 18 points.

Still locked in a four-way tie with Shepherd, Fairmont State and Charleston for first place in the Mountain East Conference, the Hilltoppers go on the road Thursday night for a crucial game at Shepherd. Tipoff in Shepherdstown is set for 5:30 p.m.