Women's Basketball | 2/11/2016 8:19:00 PM
Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 18-ranked West Liberty University women erupted for 34 first-quarter points Thursday night and breezed to their 20th win of the season, coasting past Concord, 90-66, in Mountain East Conference action at the ASRC.
It's the 10th 20-win season in the last 11 years for Coach Lynn Ullom's Lady Hilltoppers (20-3, 15-2) and the 17th overall in Ullom's quarter-century at the West Liberty helm. "I think that's a testimony to the depth and consistency of the program," Ullom said. "I've been lucky enough to have the opportunity to coach a lot of motivated and dedicated young women who were committed to paying the price you have to pay in order to win basketball games."
Thursday's game was a no-doubter almost from the opening tap as the Black and Gold slammed the gas pedal to the floor less than two minutes into the first quarter and left the outgunned Mountain Lions (5-17, 3-13) in a cloud of dust.
Liz Flowers' 3-pointer at the 8:08 mark of the first quarter put West Liberty ahead to stay and ignited a blurry-fast 20-2 run that put the game on ice, 24-6, with 4:02 still showing on the first quarter clock. "Concord has had a lot of bad luck with injuries this season and came in here struggling a little bit," Ullom said, "so we wanted to come out of the gate with a lot of energy and take control early.
"I thought we defended pretty well in the first half and when we can get the ball off the defensive glass and get into our running game, that's when we're at our best."
The Hilltoppers coasted to a 49-26 halftime lead and pushed the margin as high as 35 points in the fourth quarter before Ullom cleared his bench.
All five West Liberty starters hit double-figures with Kiki Simpson and Kailee Howe each recording double-doubles. Simpson, the reigning National Player of the Week, charted her 16th double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds while Howe, who leads the nation in assists, added 10 points and handed out a game-high 12 assists. Flowers finished with 12 points and 5 assists. Johnie Olkosky led all scorers with 19 points while Emily Bucon added 17 more as the two Hilltopper guard went a combined 8-for-12 from behind the 3-point arc. Concord got 18 points and 10 rebounds from Kylie Molisee while Alexis Lowery weighted in with 15 points in a losing cause.
The Hilltoppers remain at home to host UVA-Wise on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the ASRC.
