Women's Basketball | 11/20/2017 7:35:00 PM

Box Score

    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team enjoyed its first taste of home cooking Monday night, cruising to a 78-64 victory against West Virginia Wesleyan at the ASRC.
    It was the first home game of the season for Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (2-3, 1-1) and they led virtually wire-to-wire in handing the Bobcats (2-2, 1-1) their first MEC loss of the year.
    West Liberty took control early as a 20-3 surge spanning most of the first quarter and carrying into the second frame flipped a 4-2 Wesleyan lead into a 22-7 Hilltopper advantage in the first two minutes of the second quarter.
    With McKenna Shives going 4-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc and Audrey Tingle dishing out 5 assists, West Liberty led by as many as 16 points in the latter stages of the second stanza before settling for a 39-27 margin at the half.
    Wesleyan battled back to close the gap to 57-51 heading into the final 10 minutes but WLU opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run, capped by a conventional 3-point play from Marissa Brown, and the Bobcats never threatened again.
    Brown led all scorers with a game-high 19 points while Shives finished with 14 tallies to go along with Brandi Beader's 13 points and 7 rebounds.
    Freshman point guard Audrey Tingle had another strong outing with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and zero turnovers in 34 minutes of game action. Johnie Olkosky fell just short of a double-double with 8 points and a team-best 9 rebounds.
    Tyra Hughes paced a balanced attack for Wesleyan with a dozen points.
    The Hilltoppers return to the ASRC floor in less than 48 hours when they host Slippery Rock (Pa.) Wednesday at 1 p.m.