Women's Basketball | 1/14/2017 4:50:00 PM

Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – A lengthy cold spell in the second half doomed an upset attempt for the West Liberty University women's basketball team on Saturday as league-leading UVa-Wise pulled away to a 79-60 victory at the ASRC.
Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (4-11, 3-6) battled the Cavaliers (13-4, 8-1) on virtually even terms throughout the first two quarters with UVa-Wise taking a slim 42-38 lead into the locker room at the half.
West Liberty center Marissa Brown, who had overcome foul trouble to score 11 first-half points, went to the bench with her fourth personal foul less than three minutes into the third quarter and the WLU offense seemed to grind to a halt.
The Cavaliers – who are tied with No. 23 Wheeling Jesuit for first place in the Mountain East Conference standings – broke things open by scoring 20 of the first 24 points in the second half.
"Give Virginia-Wise credit," Ullom said. "They're a veteran, experienced team that plays very, very hard. If you're not willing to match their intensity, it can make for a very long night."
A power post move by the visitors' Kayla Carey capped the surge, pushing the margin out to 60-42 with 2:20 left in the third quarter, and the Hilltoppers were unable to get the lead under double-figures the rest of the way.
After draining seven 3-pointers and shooting just under 50 percent (14-of-29) from the floor in the first half, West Liberty made only 25 percent of its shots (8-of-32) the rest of the way and was just 1-for-17 from behind the arc.
"I was more disappointed in our defense than our offense," Ullom said. "We were just atrocious at that end of the floor. We had made some strides the last couple of games and were coming off a couple of very good practices so it was pretty disappointing."
Brown finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds to lead WLU before fouling out in the third quarter. Johnie Olkosky added 11 points and 6 rebounds while McKenna Shives also cracked double-figures with 11 points.
Carey led all scorers with 16 points for UVa-Wise while Allison Ball added 13 points, all in the first half. Taylor Sandidge and Makenzie Cluesman chipped in with 11 points each and Dakotah Turner had 10 points off the bench.
The Lady Hilltoppers return to action on Monday when they host Concord in a 4:30 p.m. game.