INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team splashed home four straight free throws in the final 9 seconds here Wednesday night to seal a 74-68 victory against West Virginia State at the Walker Center.
    Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (9-12, 5-10) never trailed in the second half but had to hold off a late surge by the host Yellow Jackets (8-13, 6-9) to post their second straight victory.
    After carrying a 35-28 lead into the halftime locker room, West Liberty took its first double-digit lead of the game, 54-44, when Corinne Thomas drained her third 3-pointer in a 2-minute span with 2:33 left in the third quarter.
    The Hilltoppers led 60-52 after three quarters and the margin hit double-digits again, 64-54, on an Audrey Tingle drive to the rack with 7:24 to play but West Virginia State began chipping away.
    Chloe Cheresne pulled the hosts within a basket, 70-68, on a power post move with 18 seconds left but the Black and Gold didn't blink.
    After Olivia Belknap hit two free throws for a 72-68 lead with 9 seconds left, the Hilltoppers delivered a big defensive stop and Taylor Johnson closed out the scoring with a pair of charity tosses at the 4-second mark.
    Johnson led a balanced attack for WLU, scoring 11 of her 16 points in the first half. Morgan Brunner added a dozen tallies with four 3-pointers while Thomas and Belknap finished with 11 points each. Tingle stuffed the stat sheet once more with 9 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds. Jackie Kitts grabbed a game and career-high 10 rebounds.
    Cheresne led all scorers with 17 points for State while Charity Shears and Sierra Womack donated 12 and 10 points, respectively, in a losing cause.
    The Lady Hilltoppers return to the friendly confines of the ASRC on Sunday for an NCAA Division II Showcase matchup against Charleston. Tipoff is set for 1:35 p.m.