Women's Basketball | 2/13/2016 4:51:00 PM
Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Seven players made at least one 3-point shot and the No. 18-ranked West Liberty women shot better than 50 percent from the floor Saturday afternoon in racing away to an 86-65 rout of UVA-Wise at the ASRC.
Coach
Lynn Ullom's Lady Hilltoppers (21-3, 16-2) scored the last eight points of the first half to take a 36-29 lead into the locker room and never looked back in completing the season sweep of the Cavaliers (10-12, 6-12).
"Good shooting can cover up a multitude of sins," Ullom said. "We were in serious foul trouble from the second quarter on and we turned the ball over 24 times but we made enough shots and got enough stops to maintain our separation."
Three West Liberty starters went to the bench with their fourth personal foul during the third quarter but a strong shooting performance and a change in defensive tactics allowed the hosts to carry a double-digit lead, 59-46, into the final stanza.
"When's the last time you saw one of my teams play zone defense for an entire half," Ullom said. "We're not great at it but it bought us about seven minutes in the third quarter when the game could have gone either way."
Emily Bucon became the fourth WLU starter with four fouls just over a minute into the final quarter but the Hilltoppers' shots continued to drop and Wise never threatened again.
"When we get scoring from Johnie and Emily, it makes us awfully hard to guard," Ullom said. "That ability to spread the floor with multiple scoring threats really gives us a lot of options."
Brandi Beader was the fifth double-figure scorer with 10 points off the bench. Kiki Simpson didn't quite reach double-figures in the scorebook with 8 points but yanked down 21 rebounds despite missing almost the entire second half due to foul problems.
Kayla Carey's 19 points and 8 rebounds topped the visitors from Virginia.
The Hilltoppers hit the road on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. test at West Virginia Wesleyan.
