Women's Basketball | 11/11/2016 10:50:00 PM

Box Score ERIE, Pa. – The youthful West Liberty University women's basketball team came up short in its season opener here Friday night as Mercyhurst used a big fourth-quarter run to pull away to a 69-56 victory at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center.
Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers battled all the way back from a double-digit first-half deficit to tie the game, 44-44, on a Lindsey Fenwick 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter.
The Lakers' Natalie Piaggesi answered with a power post move at the other end to give the hosts a 46-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Mercyhurst opened the final stanza with back-to-back 3-pointers from Hayley Andres and Alex Artise, touching off a 12-2 run that broke the game open.
Another Piaggesi layup capped the surge, putting the Lakers up 59-46 with 4:09 remaining and the Lady Hilltoppers were unable to trim the margin under double-digits the rest of the night.
McKenna Shives had 16 points - including four 3-pointers - to go along with a team-high 6 rebounds to pace the Black and Gold. Fenwick came off the bench to go 4-for-4 from the 3-point arc and backed Shives with 14 points. Emily Bucon added 8 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds in a losing cause.
Piaggesi and Angela Heintz led all scorers for Mercyhurst with 19 points each. Jalin Steel also cracked double-figures with 10 points.
The West Liberty women return to the MAC boards on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game against No. 8-ranked California (Pa.).