WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Marissa Brown scored 31 points and grabbed 24 rebounds as the West Liberty women ran away to a 107-92 overtime victory against Notre Dame Wednesday night at the ASRC.
    Playing their final home game of the season, Coach Kyle Cooper's regionally-ranked Hilltoppers (19-8, 16-5) led the Falcons (14-13, 11-10) by as many as 18 points in the second half but still needed two clutch free throws from sophomore point guard Audrey Tingle with just two seconds left in regulation to force the game into overtime.
    "I think our seniors just wanted another five minutes on this floor," Cooper replied when asked about the comeback win. "In all seriousness, though, I'm really happy about the way we battled back after Notre Dame went ahead.
    "Big free throws from Audrey; a huge game from Marissa Brown and great contributions from everybody up and down the line. That's West Liberty basketball. We made it a little more interesting than we needed to but I'm so proud of the way we finished."
    West Liberty nearly shot the lights out of the ASRC in the first half, knocking down 12-of-14 shots from the floor in the second quarter alone to coast into halftime with a 59-43 lead. The Hilltoppers were 22-of-33 (67%) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including an eye-popping 10-of-14 (71%) from the 3-point arc.
    The Falcons chipped away at the lead throughout the third quarter and trailed just 75-69 as the fourth quarter got under way.
    Notre Dame took its first lead of the night, 87-85, on a pair of Kyleigh Ramlow free throws at 1:56 and the Hilltoppers trailed, 90-87, with just 21 seconds left after a pair of Seina Adachi charity tosses.
    Taylor Johnson got a twisting runner to go with 14 ticks remaining to make it 90-89 and Adachi missed the back end of a 2-shot foul at the other end to keep it at 91-89 as Cooper called timeout to set up the final possession.
    West Liberty tried to force the ball into Brown but the Falcons had locked down on the All-American center, forcing Tingle to drive the lane and draw contact with time running out. A 50 percent foul shooter on the season, she calmly knocked down the tying free throws to send the game into overtime.
    The Hilltoppers dominated the extra period, holding Notre Dame to just one free throw over the final five minutes. Brown muscled in 8 of her game-high 31 points during the overtime period while Morgan Brunner and Allie Farina added 3-point bombs.
    Brown, who rocketed past the 1,700-point career milestone, now leads the nation with 283 field goals and ranks No. 2 nationally with 350 rebounds following another dominant performance.
    "It's probably a little early for this and I know I'm prejudiced because I see her every night but if Marissa Brown isn't the National Player of the Year this year, I don't know who is," Cooper said. "The numbers she puts up are out of this world but her consistency, the way she impacts the game on every possession, is invaluable."
    Brown had plenty of support on Wednesday as Johnson tossed in 25 points while Brunner came off the bench with five more 3-pointers and 19 points. Tingle stuffed the stat sheet once again with 15 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds.
    Adachi had 26 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals to pace the Falcons.
    The West Liberty women close out the regular season on the road Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. game at Wheeling Jesuit.