CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Junior guard
Taylor Johnson poured in a career-high 33 points and the West Liberty University women's basketball team pulled away to an 86-74 victory against Mercyhurst (Pa.) here Sunday in the MEC/PSAC Conference Challenge hosted by California (Pa.) University.
It was a back-and-forth affair with 7 ties and 10 lead changes through the first three quarters but Coach
Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (1-1) dominated the fourth quarter to hand the Lakers (0-2) their second loss of the opening weekend.
"It's amazing how much a team can evolve and grow over the course of a game but that's what we saw today with our team," Cooper said. "It's not just about playing hard but channeling that effort to create winning plays. We did that consistently down the stretch which enabled us to extend our lead."
Mercyhurst took its biggest lead of the second half, 52-45, midway through the third quarter only to see the Black and Gold score 15 of the final 20 points in the quarter to take a 60-57 advantage into the final 10 minutes.
There were some nervous moments on the WLU sideline when All-America center
Marissa Brown went to the bench with her fourth foul at the 7:26 mark. Meghan Komendaryk made the free throw to finish off the 3-point play, putting Mercyhurst back on top, 64-63.
The Hilltoppers' concerns proved short-lived as Youngstown State transfer
Morgan Brunner buried back-to-back 3-pointers on passes from Johnson and
Brandi Beader to put WLU back in front, 69-64, with 6:37 to play and the Lakers never threatened again.
Johnson, a 5-9 transfer from Belmont Abbey (N.C.), not only led all scorers on the night, she dished out a game-high 9 assists and backed Brown on the board with 6 rebounds in a virtuoso performance.
Brown battled foul problems and a sagging Laker defense throughout the night but still posted another double-double with 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Brunner came up big with 17 points off the bench – 12 of them in the second half – and
Olivia Belknap added 9 points on a trio of timely 3-point bombs.
"We had big-time performances from multiple players tonight," Cooper said. "Those individual numbers were a direct result of teammates creating opportunities for their teammates. I'm really proud of the way we responded as a collective group. This was a great team win."
Emily Shopene paced four double-figure scorers for Mercyhurst with 17 points. Nicolete Newman and Komendaryk finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Maria Lapertosa had 10 points and a team-high 8 rebounds.
The Lady Hilltoppers make their home court debut on Wednesday when they host Ursuline (Ohio) in a non-conference game. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the ASRC.
