WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Virginia State women's basketball team reeled off a 12-2 run in the final two minutes Saturday night to hand West Liberty an 87-80 setback in Mountain East Conference action at the ASRC.
    Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (5-5, 2-4) built multiple double-digit leads in the first half only to see the Yellow Jackets (3-6, 2-4) take advantage of an extended West Liberty cold stretch over the final two quarters to come storming back.
    "I give a lot of credit to West Virginia State and (Coach) Charles (Marshall)," Cooper said. "They fought like crazy to get back in the game and were really active on the defensive end. We had to work a lot harder to get our shots in the second half."
    The hosts shot 50 percent (18-of-36) from the floor, including an eye-popping 11-of-23 (48 percent) from the 3-point arc, to carry a 51-42 lead into the locker room at intermission.
    West Liberty pushed the lead back up to double-digits again early in the third quarter but then went nearly five minutes without scoring a point as the visitors battled back to trail just 62-59 heading into the final 10 minutes.
    The Yellow Jackets held WLU without a basket for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, capping an 8-1 run with back-to-back Charity Sears fast break baskets for a 67-63 lead with just over seven minutes to play.
    After trading hoops for the next few minutes, West Liberty took its final lead of the night with 2:11 remaining when Taylor Johnson drained a 3-pointer from the corner off a kick-out feed from Corinne Thomas but it proved short-lived.
    State's Alexis Hall outraced the Hilltoppers down the floor to haul in a "home run" pass and laid the ball in the basket as she was fouled. The conventional 3-point play put the visitors back on top, 78-76, with 2:04 to go.
    Audrey Tingle forged the game's final tie, 78-78, with a driving layup at the other end but Chloe Cheresne hit two free throws to put WVSU ahead to stay, 80-78, with 1:33 remaining.
    West Liberty came up empty on its next five possessions and the Yellow Jackets went 9-for-10 from the foul line during the final 1:33 to put the game away.
    The stat sheet told a sad story for the Lady Hilltoppers as they shot just 26 percent (11-of-41) from the floor in the second half and made just 5 of their last 27 3-point attempts. Meanwhile, West Virginia State scorched the nets at a 14-of-26 (54 percent) clip over the final two quarters while taking only one 3-point attempt (which missed).
    "Part of that is we do focus on taking away the 3-point shot but I also think it was a conscious decision on State's part to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim," Cooper said. "We need to do a better job defending the dribble drive. We weren't good enough today."
    Cheresne had a huge game for the Yellow Jackets with 31 points and 13 rebounds while going 11-for-12 from the foul line. Hall added 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and Sierra Womack just missed a double-double with 8 points and a dozen boards.
    Morgan Brunner and Johnson paced the West Liberty attack with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Tingle added 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists before fouling out with 1:33 remaining.
    "I thought our girls competed," Cooper said. "Even when things weren't going our way in the second half, we never stopped sharing the ball and working to get better shots. They just wouldn't drop."
    The Lady Hilltoppers head to Cleveland on Wednesday for a special non-conference game against Walsh (Ohio). Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, home of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.