WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team closed out the first quarter on a 17-2 run and were never threatened Wednesday night in coasting to a 96-72 victory against Shepherd at the ASRC.
    Senior All-American Marissa Brown had 30 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocked shots to pace five double-figure scorers as Coach Kyle Cooper's Lady Hilltoppers (6-4, 3-2) sent the Rams (3-5, 1-4) to their fourth straight loss.
    "Coming off a very disappointing loss at Notre Dame on Sunday, we wanted to come in and set the tone early tonight and I thought our players did that," Cooper said. "We came out of the locker room playing like we were possessed."
    Shepherd trailed just 11-8 at the 5-minute media timeout but the Rams made only one more shot the rest of the quarter while the Black and Gold shifted into overdrive.
    Brandi Beader wrapped a pair of driving layups around a Grace Fodor hoop and then drained a 3-pointer in transition, pushing the score to 20-8 and forcing a Shepherd timeout with 2:06 left in the quarter.
    The Rams tried to stop the bleeding with a Hannah Myers jumper off the timeout but the hosts would not be denied. A coast-to-coast layup by Audrey Tingle put WLU up, 28-10, at the break and when Tingle opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer from the corner for a 31-10 lead, it was all but over.
    The Hilltoppers eased to a 55-35 lead at the half and the visitors never got any closer.
    "We played with tremendous pace tonight," Cooper said. "That's a major key for us because that's how we practice and that's who we are. When we can play with that pace while controlling the basketball, we can be very good."
    Tingle fell just short of a double-double with 10 points and 9 assists while Beader stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Taylor Johnson also checked off plenty of boxes with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals with Morgan Brunner adding 11 points off the bench.
    Senior guard Johnie Olkosky took over the NCAA Division II lead in assist/turnover ratio. Olkosky had 6 assists and zero turnovers on the night, giving her 31 assists against just 3 turnovers for the season – a 10.33 assist/turnover ratio.
    "Johnie understands the game so well and does so many things for this team that don't show up in the box score," Cooper said. "I'm glad to see her finally getting some of the recognition she deserves."
    Sydney Clayton had 35 points and 12 rebounds in a strong performance for Shepherd but was the Rams' only double-figure scorer.
    The Hilltoppers go back on the road Sunday for a 2 p.m. game at Fairmont State.