FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Audrey Tingle buried a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining here Sunday to give the West Liberty University women's basketball team a wild 84-82 comeback victory against Fairmont State at Joe Retton Arena.
    Tingle's clutch bonus bomb completed an improbable rally for Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (7-4, 4-2), who trailed the host Falcons (3-6, 2-4) by as many as 22 points in the early going before hitting the comeback trail.
    "I'm unbelievably proud of the way we kept fighting to come back from a huge deficit and some pretty ugly basketball," Cooper said. "Audrey gets that moment at the end because of her trust in the process after battling through all the ups and downs of the game. This was a great team win."
    West Liberty didn't take its first lead until just 90 seconds remained when Brandi Beader got a running half-hook to go for a 79-78 Hilltopper advantage.
    Neither team scored on its next possession but Fairmont's Sierra Kotchman drilled a 12-footer with 40 seconds to go, putting Fairmont back up, 80-79.
    Taylor Johnson answered for WLU with a long jumper at the 24-second mark but two Brooke Kurucz free throws gave the Falcons their final lead, 82-81, with 18 seconds to play.
    With time rapidly ticking down, the Hilltoppers struggled to find an open look until Johnie Olkosky caught the ball on the left wing and whipped it down to Tingle in the corner. The sophomore guard hit nothing but net for what proved to be the game-winner as the Falcons' final shot failed to draw iron.
    It was a very different story in the early going. Fairmont hit 9 of its first 10 shots from the floor and drained its first 5 3-point attempts to take a 34-16 lead into the second quarter.
    The margin hit 22 points, 38-16, on a pair of Rachel Laskody free throws early in the second quarter but West Liberty battled back.
    Morgan Brunner's 3-point bomb just ahead of the halftime buzzer got the margin under double-digits, 48-40, at the break and the comeback was under way.
    Beader led all scorers with 25 points, including 6 3-pointers, while Johnson added 21 markers to go along with 5 assists. All-America center Marissa Brown saw just 24 minutes of action before fouling out down the stretch, finishing with 13 points and 8 rebounds.
    Jackie Kitts, a 5-9 sophomore guard, played well in relief of Brown despite giving away several inches in the paint and even drained a pair of clutch 3-point field goals in 13 quality minutes.
    "There's no doubt in my mind that the unsung hero is Jackie Kitts. With Marissa in foul trouble all day, Jackie gave us an incredible lift at both ends of the floor. I couldn't be more proud of her."
    Laskody paced Fairmont State with 23 points and a game-high 14 rebounds while Kotchman and Kamrin Weimer added 18 and 11 points, respectively.
    After taking this week off for semester exams, the Lady Hilltoppers return to the ASRC on Dec. 18 for a 2 p.m. non-conference game against Walsh (Ohio).