Women's Basketball | 11/30/2016 8:14:00 PM

Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team maintained the lead for the better part of three quarters here Wednesday night but a late scoring drought allowed Shepherd to escape with a 69-57 victory in Mountain East Conference action at the ASRC.
Coach Lynn Ullom's youthful Lady Hilltoppers (1-6, 1-2) trailed just 52-51 after an Emily Bucon free throw with 7:19 left on the fourth quarter clock but the Black and Gold made only one shot from the floor over the next five minutes and the Rams (3-4, 1-2) took control.
Back-to-back hoops by Cara Mason pushed the count to 56-51 before WLU's Lindsey Fenwick got a 10-foot runner to go down, trimming the margin to 56-53 with 6:14 to play.
Mason answered with a driving layup and Shepherd clamped down on the defensive end while continuing to pull away.
Tiffany McKinney capped a 10-0 surge with a 3-point dagger that bounced high off the iron before dropping cleanly through the net for a 66-53 lead with 2:30 to go and the game was gone.
The Hilltoppers had opened up a 20-16 lead after one quarter and maintained the advantage throughout the second quarter, taking a 33-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.
West Liberty pushed the lead to 38-32 on a Grace Fodor charity toss at 7:34 of the third quarter but a 12-3 Shepherd spurt over the next three minutes gave the Rams their first lead since the game's opening minutes, 44-41, and put the veteran Shepherd squad on track for its strong finish.
"We played well enough to be in the game for the first three quarters," Ullom said, "but then Shepherd's experienced kids stepped up and made some nice plays to gain an edge.
"Where we're at right now, we just don't have the experience to respond very well to adversity and that showed a little bit tonight. We're still waiting for a couple of kids to emerge as leaders on the court to help us get to where we need to be."
Marissa Brown paced West Liberty with 14 points and 6 rebounds before fouling out down the stretch. Fenwick provided a nice lift off the bench with 11 points while McKenna Shives knocked down a trio of 3-pointers to finish with 9 points.
Mason led a quartette of double-figure scorers for the Rams with 14 points. McKinney, Morgan Arden and Liz Myers all finished with 10 points.
The Hilltoppers hit the road on Sunday at Fairmont State. Tipoff for the nationally-televised tilt is set for 1:30 p.m.