BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team used a strong second half performance to pull away to a 73-63 victory against West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday afternoon at the Rockefeller Center.
    The win completed a season sweep of the series for Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (8-12, 4-10), who had handed the Bobcats (3-17, 1-13) an 82-51 setback in December.
    The lead swung back and forth for much of the first half, which ended with West Liberty taking a 32-30 lead into the locker room.
    The game remained close in the early going of the third quarter but a 10-0 Hilltopper surge turned a 38-37 deficit into a 47-38 lead and the Black and Gold were on their way.
    West Liberty carried a 51-40 advantage into the final 10 minutes and kept right on rolling. A Morgan Brunner 3-pointer – her sixth of the afternoon – gave WLU its biggest lead of the day, 71-47, and Cooper cleared his bench for the final four minutes.
    Brunner finished with a team-high 18 points while Taylor Johnson added 15 lightings. Corinne Thomas had 7 points and a team-high 9 rebounds while Audrey Tingle had 7 assists to go along with 5 points.
    Wesleyan got 20 points and 11 rebounds - both game-highs - from Makayla Kimmons while Nicole Gilyard added 13 points and 11 boards in a losing cause.
    The Lady Hilltoppers will try to build on their momentum Wednesday night when they travel to West Virginia State for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.