ATHENS, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team moved into a tie for third place in the Mountain East Conference Saturday afternoon with a convincing 84-69 road win at Concord.
    It was the sixth straight win for Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (15-7, 12-4), who took control at the end of the first half and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
    The Mountain Lions (17-5, 12-4), who came into the game having won 12 of their last 13 outings, forged the game's final tie, 27-27, on a Maggie Guynn putback at 6:22 of the second quarter but were held to just one more field goal the remainder of the half.
    That smothering defensive effort allowed West Liberty to score 15 of the final 17 points in the first half with Morgan Brunner's 3-pointer just ahead of the buzzer sending WLU into the locker room with a 42-29 lead.
    The Hilltoppers picked up where they had left off when play resumed and Concord was never able to get the deficit under double-digits. West Liberty led by as many as 18 points on multiple occasions throughout the second half.
    Taylor Johnson had a game-high 24 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists for the Black and Gold, who also got 18 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks from reigning MEC Player of the Week Marissa Brown.
    Brunner finished with 14 points, including four 3-point bombs, while Brandi Beader stuffed the stat sheet with 9 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Sophomore point guard Audrey Tingle also had a strong game with 7 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
    Madison May's 19 points led four double-figure scorers for the hosts, who were held to just 38 percent (27-of-70) shooting from the floor. Riley Fitzwater had 22 rebounds and 4 blocks in a losing cause.
    The Lady Hilltoppers will try to stretch their winning streak to seven games on Thursday when they head south once again to take on West Virginia State.