Women's Basketball | 2/27/2016 7:42:00 PM

Box Score  WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Senior standout Kiki Simpson scored 17 points and grabbed an arena-record 22 rebounds Saturday afternoon as the No. 16 West Liberty University women handed Wheeling Jesuit a 60-50 setback before a national television audience and an overflow crowd at the ASRC.
   Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (25-3, 20-2) never trailed in locking up their second straight Mountain East Conference championship, jetting out to a 21-7 lead after one quarter and never letting the Cardinals (23-5, 19-3) draw closer than five points the rest of the way.
   Simpson, the first MEC woman ever with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, was a major factor in WLU's early burst with 6 of her points and a staggering 10 rebounds coming in the opening quarter.
   "I'm so happy for Kiki," Ullom said. "She's worked so hard for the four years she's been here so it's really gratifying to see her finally starting to get the recognition she deserves. Kiki was phenomenal today but that's nothing new. She's played like that all season."
   West Liberty outscored Wheeling Jesuit by a 17-3 margin over the final eight minutes of the first quarter. Liz Flowers hit a pair of 3-pointers, Johnie Olkosky added bonus bomb, Kailee Howe handed out a pair of assists and Simpson dominated the glass at both ends in an impressive display of team basketball.
   The margin swelled to 16 points, 25-9, when Jasmin Kiley finished off a pretty feed from Howe with 7:21 on the second quarter clock and Lindsey Fenwick's buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent the hosts racing into the locker room with a 33-20 halftime lead.
   "I know everybody looks at the points we scored," Ullom said, "but I thought we played really good team defense today. We were able to take away their 3-point shooters and limit their penetration. Of course, it helps to have Kiki in the paint taking care of any mistakes."
   Simpson, who broke her own single-season school rebounding record on Saturday, also finished with a game-high five rejections.
   There were some nervous moments in the second half when Liz Flowers, the Hilltoppers' leading scorer, picked up her third and fourth fouls on consecutive possessions and went to the bench for an extended stay with more than six minutes left in the third quarter.
   The Cardinals slowly chipped away at the deficit and ultimately closed to within five points, 45-40, when Chelsea Richardson muscled her way inside for the first basket of the fourth quarter.
   That's when Howe stepped into the spotlight.
   Leading the nation in assists for the second straight season, the senior point guard answered with a spinning drive to the hoop at the other end. She then fed Kiley for a clutch 3-pointer before threading the needle to Simpson at the rim for a 52-40 WLU lead with 6:33 to play.
   "That's why we call Kailee 'the closer,' " Ullom said. "When the game's on the line, we like to put the ball in her hands and let her do what she does best. Kailee can get to the basket and finish or set up great looks for her teammates."
   Jesuit got the lead down to six points, 52-46, on a Jaila Bryant hoop with 3:49 to go but the West Liberty defense closed out the show, holding the visitors to just one field goal the rest of the way while padding the final margin at the charity stripe.
   Howe backed Simpson with 19 points and six assists while Flowers finished with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in just 27 minutes of action.
   Bryant was WJU's only double-figure scorer with 12 points – all in the second half – but was just 3-for-21 from the floor as the Hilltopper defense held the Cardinals to 29 percent (20-of-69) shooting as a team.
   In addition, Jesuit was 0-for-8 from the 3-point arc and lost the rebounding battle by a decisive 48-36 margin.
   "There's a chance we could still end up hosting the regional," Ullom said, "but think about the memories if this turns out to be the last game our seniors play on this floor.
   "Winning a second straight conference championship on your home floor with a sellout crowd in a national TV game is something not many young women get a chance to do. That's the kind of memory that will stay with you all your life."
GAME NOTES
   X As the outright MEC champion, West Liberty earns a first-round bye in next week's MEC Tournament
   X Simpson broke her own year-old school single-season record of 373 rebounds, finishing the afternoon with 376
   X Her 22 rebounds are the most recorded by any player – male or female – at the ASRC since the arena opened during the 2000-01 season
   X Simpson is just 3 blocked shots away from Jaana Kotova's school record of 251 career blocked shots
   X Flowers pushed her career scoring total to 1,975 points, leaving her just 25 points shy of becoming the third 2,000-point scorer in WLU women's history
   X Improving to 8-0 this month, the Hilltoppers are 100 games over .500 (129-29, .816) in February games over the past 16 years
   X Lynn Ullom improved to 43-16 all-time against Wheeling Jesuit with his 20^th win in the last 21 games against the Cardinals