Women's Basketball | 1/4/2018 7:27:00 PM

Box Score

    INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team dropped an 84-76 decision to West Virginia State here Thursday night in Mountain East Conference action at the Walker Center.
    Coach Kyle Cooper's Lady Hilltoppers (4-9, 3-4) battled back from an early double-digit deficit with 49 second-half points but it wasn't quite enough to get past the homestanding Yellow Jackets (4-9, 4-3).
    State used a 13-0 run midway through the second quarter to break up a see-saw affair and carried a 35-27 lead into the second half.
    Senior guard McKenna Shives and junior post Marissa Brown fueled a WLU rally as the hosts were unable to build on that advantage.
    Shives poured in 23 of her game-high 26 points over the final two quarters while the 6-3 Brown made a run at a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocked shots - her sixth double-double in the last seven games.
    With Shives and Brown leading the way, West Liberty closed the gap to two points on numerous occasions down the stretch but was never quite able to get over the hump.
    Shives' sixth 3-pointer of the night closed the gap to 75-73 with 2:43 remaining but State scored on its next three possessions to put the game on ice, 81-73, in the final minute.
    Shives added a game-high 7 assists to go along with her 26 points while junior guard Johnie Olkosky checked off a lot of boxes on the stat sheet with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
    Shae Hines and Jasmine Davis paced the Yellow Jackets with 23 and 19 points, respectively.
    The Hilltoppers return home to host Charleston on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the ASRC.