Women's Basketball | 1/26/2017 7:16:00 PM

Box Score CHARLESTON, W.Va. – An early dry spell proved costly for the West Liberty University women's basketball team here Thursday night as Charleston posted a 65-47 revenge win in Mountain East Conference action at the Wehrle Athletic Center.
Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (6-13, 5-8) had handed the Golden Eagles (7-12, 6-7) a 71-49 thrashing earlier this month at the ASRC and got off to a good start on Thursday, taking a quick 5-0 lead on a Brandi Beader 3-pointer and a driving layup by Emily Bucon.
That was when the lid slammed down on the WLU basket as the visitors missed 15 of their next 17 shots from the floor and Charleston took full advantage.
The Golden Eagles opened up a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and UC's Jordyn Peck turned up the heat when play resumed.
Peck, the MEC's leading scorer at 19.7 ppg., had been held to just 10 points in the first meeting with West Liberty but nearly doubled that total in the first half on Thursday.
The transfer from NCAA Division I Wagner (N.Y.) tallied 15 of her 19 first-half points in the second quarter as Charleston closed the half on a 10-0 run to take a 36-16 lead at the break.
The Hilltoppers didn't go away quietly. After Peck opened the second half with another 3-pointer to give UC its biggest lead of the game, 39-16, West Liberty finally knocked the lid off its basket and reeled off 14 straight points to get back within range, 39-30, midway through the third quarter.
The Black and Gold ultimately closed the gap to 46-39 on a conventional 3-point play from Marissa Brown in the opening minute of the fourth quarter but the Golden Eagles' Abby Watson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to ignite an 11-0 UC run and West Liberty couldn't recover.
The Hilltoppers shot just 29 percent (16-of-55) from the floor and 21 percent (6-of-28) from the 3-point arc on the night. Charleston also notched a significant 15-0 advantage in points off turnovers.
Brown accounted for nearly half of West Liberty's 47 points with a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double. Peck led all scorers for UC with 28 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the floor while Watson hit all three of her 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help hold WLU at bay and finished with 11 points.
The Hilltoppers will be back home on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game against West Virginia State.