Women's Basketball | 2/11/2017 4:16:00 PM

Box Score WISE, Va. – The West Liberty University basketball team dominated early but couldn't hang on here Saturday as UVa-Wise battled back from a double-digit deficit to pull out a 72-62 win at the Prior Center.
Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (7-18, 6-12) jumped on the Cavaliers (18-8, 13-5) right out of the gate, blowing out to a quick 7-0 lead and building on that to take a 25-15 lead into the second quarter.
The hosts began chipping away at the margin but WLU still had a comfortable 30-22 lead after Brandi Beader drained her third 3-pointer of the day, forcing a UVa-Wise timeout with 6:25 left in the opening half.
It was a timely timeout for the Cavaliers as they found their shooting touch just as turnovers and foul problems combined to short-circuit the WLU attack.
The Hilltoppers made only one shot over the final 6 ½ minutes of the half and the hosts took full advantage, closing the period on a 15-3 run to take a 37-33 halftime lead.
Marissa Brown scored 12 of her 16 points in the third quarter but went to the bench with her fourth foul in the final minute with the Hilltoppers trailing just 52-49 and the hosts expanded the margin to 56-50 at the end of the frame.
McKenna Shives cut the gap to 58-55 when she drained her sixth 3-pointer of the game with 7:10 to go in the fourth quarter but that was as close as WLU would come.
Brown was whistled for her fifth foul on the next possession and the Cavaliers reeled off seven straight points to put the game on ice, 65-55, with 3:23 to play.
Joining Brown in double-figures for West Liberty were Shives, who led all scorers with 22 points, and Beader, who finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Allison Ball had 16 points and 8 assists for UVa-Wise while Makenzie Cluesman added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Hilltoppers return home to host West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the ASRC.