Women's Basketball | 2/18/2017 6:03:00 PM

Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – League-leading Glenville State broke up a see-saw affair with an extended run at the end of the first half and went on to notch a 100-74 victory against the West Liberty University women Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at the ASRC.
Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (8-18, 7-13) traded baskets with the high-powered Pioneers (22-4, 16-4) for the better portion of a tightly-played first half that saw 4 ties and a staggering 15 lead changes between the two old rivals.
West Liberty trailed just 19-18 at the end of the first quarter but a pair of Marissa Brown baskets put the Black and Gold up, 22-21, with 8:53 still to play in the first half.
That's when Glenville State – which leads the nation in scoring – found another gear for its offense as a free throw and driving layup by Paris McLeod put the visitors on top, 24-22, with 7:40 on the clock.
That proved to be the final lead change of the day as the Pioneers scored 11 unanswered points to take their first double-digit lead of the day, 32-22, as the clock ticked under 5 minutes.
Glenville's full-court press produced a series of turnovers and the visitors took full advantage with another extended surge that effectively put the game out of reach, pushing the margin to 55-35 at halftime.
"They're really good. There's a reason they've won 22 games. They pick you up all over the court and never give you a chance to catch your breath. Even if you beat their press, they really sprint to run you down from behind. They're a tough matchup for us."
Brown, a 6-3 sophomore post, had a strong outing with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
"We thought coming in that Marissa could be a big factor in this game," Ullom said. "With their pressure, they have to defend 1-on-1 in the post and we were able to take advantage of that. The problem was, we didn't do it enough. There were several times where all we had to do was make one more pass to the corner and dump it in but we just didn't make that pass."
McKenna Shives, who leads the nation in 3-point field goals, made six more on Saturday and backed Brown with 22 points and 6 assists. Shives' six bonus bombs gave her 101 on the season – the 12th time in the last 14 years that a West Liberty woman has made 100 or more 3-pointers.
Five seniors – Emily Bucon, Lindsey Fenwick, Beth Dalton, Baylee Smith and Kayla Boggs – were recognized by the WLU coaching staff in pre-game ceremonies. Bucon, a four-year regular, had to be helped off the floor during the first half after being injured.
"That was really a heartbreaker to lose Emily like that," Ullom said. "She's really battled through a lot of adversity with injuries during her time here but nobody can question her dedication, her courage or her determination. I just hate to see her get hurt again on Senior Day. Hopefully, she gets a good report and can get back on the floor for us."
Paris McLeod led Glenville State with 26 points with Julie Bishop and Maya Horne adding 12 and 11 points, respectively. Odyssey Trussell and Erika Toney rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points each.
West Liberty hits the road on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. game at Urbana.