Women's Basketball | 12/12/2017 8:04:00 PM

Box Score

    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team suffered through its worst shooting night of the season here Tuesday in dropping an 81-69 non-conference decision to Cheyney (Pa.) at the ASRC.
    Coach Kyle Cooper's Lady Hilltoppers (4-7) shot a dismal 7-of-38 from behind the 3-point arc but it still took a late surge by the visiting Wolves (2-9) to put the game on ice.
    "We got good looks for the most part and moved the ball well at times," Cooper said, "but the reality is you can't give up 81 points when you're struggling to get to 70. We have to find a way to win games when the shots aren't falling and that starts with defense and rebounding."
    Cheyney took a 37-31 lead into intermission after a see-saw first half featuring no less than nine lead changes. West Liberty pulled even several times in the second half but couldn't string enough stops together to re-take the lead.
    The Wolves were still clinging to a 68-66 lead with 3:30 to play after a driving layup by WLU's Audrey Tingle but that's when the Hilltoppers' shooting woes finally came home to roost.
    The Black and Gold misfired on seven consecutive possessions as Cheyney reeled off 11 unanswered points to put the game out of reach, 79-66, with just 20 seconds remaining.
    "It's hard for a team that's still learning how to win to understand that getting one quality win doesn't mean you've finally got it all figured out," Cooper said. Hats off to Cheyney, their kids and their coaching staff. They wanted this more than we did and that's 100 percent on me. My kids didn't come to play basketball today and that is totally my responsibility."
    Marissa Brown had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the hosts while Allie Farina, Grace Fodor and McKenna Shives also hit double figures with 11 points each.
    The Hilltoppers had no answer for TaKayla Ellis. The Wolves' senior guard led all scorers with a career-high 34 points – tying a 16-year-old arena record for points by a visiting women's basketball player. Marlon Herring added 13 points and Yasmine Dorrielan finished with 8 points and 13 rebounds.
    "Our two true 5-spot players (Marissa Brown and Allie Farina) had good numbers," Cooper said. "It was great to see the lift Allie gave us off the bench and I'm happy to see Marissa with another double-double but we're at our best as a team when everybody contributes and it stings that we didn't get that done tonight."
    The West Liberty women will be idle over Christmas but return to action on Dec. 30 with a 6 p.m. non-conference test at Salem International.