URBANA, Ohio – The West Liberty University women couldn't fight through a cold shooting performance here Saturday and dropped an 87-73 decision to Urbana in a mutual Mountain East Conference opener at the Grimes Center.
    Despite trailing by as many as 24 points in the second half, Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (3-2, 0-1) battled the host Blue Knights (3-2, 1-0) to the wire before coming up short.
    The WLU women got off to a good start, hitting their first three shots to go up 8-2 less than 90 seconds after the opening tipoff, but it was a struggle the rest of the way.
    The Lady Hilltoppers shot just 7-of-33 (21 percent) from the floor for the remainder of the half – including a 2-for-19 (11 percent) showing from the 3-point arc – allowing Urbana to open up a 42-31 halftime lead.
    Compounding matters for the Black and Gold was an injury to leading scorer Morgan Brunner, who left the game early in the second quarter and was unable to return.
    The hosts broke the game open at the start of the third quarter, scoring 15 of the first 17 points in the half to take their largest lead, 57-33, but West Liberty quickly began clawing its way back.
    The Hilltoppers put together an 18-4 run of their own over the next four minutes and an Audrey Tingle layup made it a 10-point game, 61-51, with 2:40 left in the quarter.
    Urbana took a 67-54 advantage into the final 10 minutes and even though WLU cut the lead to nine points on several occasions, the Black and Gold couldn't string enough stops together to come all the way back.
    Taylor Johnson led West Liberty with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals while Olivia Belknap joined her in double figures with 13 points.
    Tyra James led five double-figure scorers for the Blue Knights with a triple-double of 27 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. James scored 19 of her points in the second half to help fend off the WLU rally.
    The Lady Hilltoppers return home to host Notre Dame on Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the ASRC.