Women's Basketball | 2/8/2018 8:11:00 PM

Box Score

    WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Junior post Marissa Brown powered in 35 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to lead four double-figure scorers and the West Liberty University women's basketball team led wire-to-wire in blitzing West Virginia State, 106-86, Thursday night at the ASRC.
    It was the fifth straight win for Coach Kyle Cooper's red-hot Lady Hilltoppers (12-11, 11-6), who strengthened their hold on third place in the Mountain East Conference standings.
    "This was very much a statement win," said Cooper, who brought his entire starting lineup to the post-game press conference. "It was a statement about a team that has fully bought into the concept of team basketball, that fights for every possession and fights for each other."
    Senior guard McKenna Shives echoed that sentiment.
    "The great thing about this team is that nobody pays attention to how many points they score," Shives said. "The only thing we really care about in terms of points is making sure we have more points than the other team at the end of the game."
    West Liberty led by as many as 13 points in the opening half before settling for a 43-35 edge at intermission.
    The Yellow Jackets (9-14, 9-8) closed the gap to 52-50 midway through the third quarter but a 14-0 Hilltopper spurt – capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Johnie Olkosky and Monica Bragg – pushed the lead back out to 66-50 and the Black and Gold never looked back.
    Brown topped the 30-point mark for the second straight game and tied a career-high with her 19 rebounds but the dominant junior post – who ranks among the nation's Top 10 in several categories had plenty of help.
    Junior guard Brandi Beader took advantage of the floor opening up to score 24 points while Shives rained in 6 3-pointers and handed out 6 assists. Freshman guard Audrey Tingle added 13 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds while Olkosky stuffed the stat sheet with 6 points, 6 assists and 11 rebounds.
    "The thing I'm most proud of about this team is the way they're showing us you can still win playing selfless team basketball. It shows up in the box score," Cooper said. "When you have 25 assists on 37 baskets, that's special.
    "This team trusts each other and trusts us as a coaching staff. That's why they're so much fun to coach."
    Lyrin Hatcher's 15 points paced five double-figure scorers for West Virginia State, which shot just 34 percent (27-of-79) from the floor and lost the battle of the boards by a 51-37 margin.
    The Lady Hilltoppers hit the road on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game at the University of Charleston.