Women's Basketball | 1/28/2017 5:07:00 PM

Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women used a 21-0 third-quarter run to take command Saturday afternoon in a 100-90 revenge win against West Virginia State at the ASRC.
Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (7-13, 6-8) had fallen by a 94-62 count to the Yellow Jackets (10-10, 8-6) earlier this month in Institute but it was a different story in the rematch.
Trailing 52-47 after State's Aurreshae Hines drove the length of the court for a layup at the 8:02 mark of the third quarter, the Black and Gold started playing their inside/outside game to perfection on offense while locking down on the defensive end of the floor.
McKenna Shives drained three 3-point bombs and Allie Farina muscled inside for a layup to put WLU up, 58-52, forcing a Yellow Jacket timeout with 5:42 on the clock.
With State focused on defending the perimeter, the Hilltoppers pounded the ball inside to 6-3 pivot Marissa Brown on back-to-back possessions to push the lead into double figures, 62-52, before Emily Bucon cashed in a transition 3-pointer to keep the run going.
A fast break layup by Brown and a Bucon free throw upped the margin to 68-52 before the visitors finally ended their 6 ½ minute scoring drought with a short jumper from Hines with just under 90 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
"I thought we defended really, really well in the third quarter," Ullom said. "The big difference in the second half was that we did an exceptional job of passing the basketball. We made the right reads and got the ball to the open shooter for threes or went inside when State tried to take away the 3-ball."
The Yellow Jackets tried to get back in the contest with an extended surge in the fourth quarter but never got closer than five points and the Hilltoppers were able to put the game away at the foul line.
Four players hit double-figures for West Liberty with Johnie Olkosky just missing a triple-double. The sophomore guard finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists while Bucon, Brown and Shives each weighed in with 22 points. Shives was 7-of-11 from the 3-point arc while Bucon and Olkosky combined to go 10-for-15 from deep.
"We had several people hit some big shots," Ullom said, "but Emily was probably the difference maker for us today. She shot the ball well but she also salvaged a number of possessions by hitting gaps and creating scoring chances deep in the shot clock. One of the things we've seen this season is when Emily scores, we win."
West Virginia State, which was coming off its second win of the season against nationally-ranked Wheeling Jesuit, got a game-high 30 points from Hines. Shealyn Shafer and Sydney Bates added 18 and 15 points, respectively.
The Hilltoppers hit the road on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. game at Shepherd.