WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team carried a double-digit lead into the second half and held off a late Clarion (Pa.) surge here Wednesday night in an 84-76 non-conference win at the ASRC.
    Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (2-1) took the lead for good midway through the first quarter and led by as many as 24 points in the second half but the visiting Golden Eagles (0-3) refused to fold.
    "I give a lot of credit to Clarion's players and coaching staff," Cooper said. "They were down big on the road but never stopped fighting and were able to make things a little interesting at the end. I'm proud of my girls, as well, because we were able to gut it out and find a way to finish out the win."
    West Liberty appeared to have turned a close game into a runaway during an impressive 5-minute stretch midway through the second quarter.
    A driving layup by Clarion's Yndiah Bobo pulled the visitors within a basket, 27-25, at 7:14 of the quarter but they would get no closer.
    After a pair of Jackie Kitts free throws and a conventional 3-point play from Audrey Tingle seemed to shift the Hilltoppers into overdrive, Olivia Belknap and Morgan Brunner wrapped 3-point bombs around a Grace Fodor layup and the Black and Gold were on their way.
    When Taylor Johnson grabbed a defensive rebound and sailed coast-to-coast for another layup with 2:16 left in the half, it capped a 21-6 spurt and put WLU in complete command, 48-31.
    "That's how we're capable of playing when we share the ball, run the floor and take care of each other," Cooper said. "We were dictating the pace and getting a good lift from some of our younger, more inexperienced players. There was no letdown when they came into the game."
    Shooting better than 60 percent from the floor, the Hilltoppers carried a 52-35 lead into the halftime break. They kept right on rolling when play resumed, hitting their first four shots of the second half to take their biggest lead of the night, 61-37, at 7:55 of the third quarter, and then suddenly went cold.
    After going 23-of-35 (66 percent) from the floor over the first 24 minutes, West Liberty shot just 7-of-28 (25 percent) the rest of the way.
    Despite their offensive struggles, the Hilltoppers did enough on defense to keep Clarion from mounting an extended surge. With the pace slowing to a crawl in the fourth quarter, Johnson got out on a fast break to make it 79-65 with 6:04 remaining.
    West Liberty didn't make another shot from the floor the rest of the night but the decision was never really in doubt. The closest the Golden Eagles came was 81-74 on an Olivia Boocks 3-pointer with just 32 seconds remaining and WLU closed things out at the foul line.
    Johnson posted the second double-double of her career and led all scorers with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Brunner just missed a double-double with 23 points and 8 boards while the 5-6 Tingle made a run at a triple-double with a career-high 14 rebounds, 9 points and 6 assists.
    Emily Hegedus came off the bench to lead four double-figure scorers for Clarion with 20 points.
    "We know we have to do a better job of closing games out," Cooper said, "but the bottom line is that when things got messy tonight, we stuck together and found a way to win.
    "We have a week now before our next game so that gives us some time to work on us as opposed to preparing for a specific opponent. This is a very coachable group and a very cohesive group so we'll attack this thing in a lot of different ways and enjoy our time together, especially coming off a win."
    The WLU women return to the ASRC on Nov. 20 for a 5:30 p.m. game against Winston-Salem State.