WISE, Va. – The No. 15-ranked West Liberty University women's basketball team survived major foul problems in the second half to hang on for a 59-53 win Saturday afternoon at UVA-Wise's Prior Center.

Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (14-1, 9-0) defending Mountain East Conference champions ran their winning streak to 12 games to remain all alone atop the MEC standings but there were plenty of nervous moments down the stretch.

West Liberty took control of the game in the first half, holding the host Cavaliers (6-7, 2-7) to just two field goals over the final 8:20 of the second quarter to take a 39-27 halftime lead.

A 3-point play by Johnie Olkosky gave WLU its largest lead, 44-29, at 7:05 of the third quarter but the Hilltoppers went cold from the floor as the fouls began to mount and UVA-Wise was able to chip away at the margin.

The visitors were clinging to a 51-41 lead at the start of the fourth quarter but four West Liberty players had been saddled with four fouls before the first minute ticked off the clock in the stanza and the lead began to shrink.

Wise closed the gap to 55-51 on a Taylor Sandidge free throw with 2:56 still to play and WLU's Kailee Howe fouled out a few seconds later.

The Hilltoppers were able to come up with a couple of key defensive stops and backup point guard Janay Bottoms gave the Black and Gold some much needed breathing room when she threaded a pass to Kiki Simpson on the blocks for a 57-51 lead with only a minute remaining.

West Liberty got another defensive stop but a turnover led to a runout layup by UVA-Wise's Kehana Grayer with 18 seconds left, trimming the deficit to 57-53.

The Hilltoppers came up empty on a pair of free throws at the other end and the Cavaliers' Allison Ball tried to launch a 3-pointer only to see Simpson come flying out of nowhere to reject the shot. Olkosky tracked down the loose ball and closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws.

Simpson had a huge game despite being limited to just 23 minutes of action due to foul problems. The reigning MEC Player of the Week finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds – both game-highs – to go along with three blocked shots. 

Liz Flowers added 13 points and Olkosky just missed a double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Howe struggled to find her shot from the floor but still stuffed the stat sheet with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists before fouling out.

Kayla Carey and Makenzie Cluesman led the hosts with 12 points each.

West Liberty travels to Concord on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. game.