Women's Basketball | 2/24/2018 5:05:00 PM

Box Score

    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team used the 1-2 punch of Marissa Brown and Brandi Beader to close out the regular season with an 83-75 win against Wheeling Jesuit Saturday afternoon at the ASRC.
    Brown, the reigning National Player of the Week, went 12-of-13 from the floor to finish with 26 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 assists, while Beader poured in a career-high 28 points as the Hilltoppers (13-15, 12-10) clinched a fourth-place finish in the tightly-bunched Mountain East Conference chase.
    "Brandi gave us a terrific lift today," head coach Kyle Cooper said. "She was a machine out there and Marissa was unstoppable. To go 12-of-13 from the floor while being double- and triple-teamed just shows how special she truly is.
    "What I really liked was the way we responded in the second half, locking down defensively and sharing the basketball. We got back to playing West Liberty basketball."
    The Cardinals (12-16, 10-12) focused much of their early defensive efforts on limiting Brown's touches in the paint and around the basket and Beader took full advantage.
    The junior guard scored 14 of her 28 points in the first quarter alone and the Hilltoppers took a 21-11 lead into the second quarter.
    Wheeling Jesuit fought back to forge a 40-40 deadlock at intermission and took its biggest lead of the game, 49-44, on a 3-point field goal by Cassi Stein at 7:30 of the third quarter but that's when the Hilltoppers began to impose their will.
    A conventional 3-point play from Brown followed by a 3-point bomb from Olivia Belknap put WLU on top, 50-49. Another Brown bucket followed by a steal and coast-to-coast runout by Beader capped the 10-0 run and West Liberty never trailed again.
    Brown tallied 20 of her 26 points in the second half but gave the credit to her teammates.
    "When Brandi and Olivia started making those outside shots, it really opened things up for me inside," Brown said. "We were able to get our inside/outside game going in the second half and it was pretty effective."
    The Hilltoppers carried a 64-59 lead into the fourth quarter and pushed the margin into double digits several times down the stretch.
    Beader checked off a lot of boxes on the stat sheet in addition to her 28 points. The junior guard hit three 3-pointers, grabbed 9 rebounds, handed out 3 assists, blocked 2 shots and added a pair of steals.
    "Coach Cooper told us we needed to fall in love with the game again," Beader said, "and that really struck a chord with me. I went out there today wanting to play as hard as I could for my teammates and my coaches."
    McKenna Shives, who was honored before the game as WLU's lone senior, backed Brown and Beader with 13 points and 3 assists in her final game on the ASRC boards.
    "I know I just transferred here two years ago," Shives said, "but it feels like I've been at West Liberty all four years. The university, coaches and players welcomed me with open arms and it just felt like home from my first day on campus.
    "It's hard to believe this was the last game I'll ever play here but I can't imagine a better way to go out. Beating our arch rival before a sellout crowd to clinch a first-round bye in the tournament … this will stick with me for a long time."
    Mariah Callen and Mariah Stein paced Wheeling Jesuit with 28 and 23 points, respectively, in a losing cause.
    The Lady Hilltoppers will take on No. 5 seed Fairmont State in an MEC Tournament quarterfinal at 8:15 p.m. Thursday in Charleston.