CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The West Liberty University women's basketball team went to overtime for the second straight game to start the season, this time the Hilltoppers came out on top but one extra frame was not enough. Karly McCutcheon drained a free throw with 0.4 on the clock to win it 108-107 over Mercyhurst in double overtime at the MEC/PSAC Challenge this afternoon.

West Liberty (1-1) stormed out of the gates shooting 70.9% in the opening half to build a 12-point lead (53-41) at the break. Over two minutes in the middle of the first quarter, the Hilltoppers went on a 10-2 run to obtain their first double-digit lead of the game, at 22-12. The Lakers got within six early in the second quarter, but no closer as West Liberty quickly put their lead back to double figures off back-to-back Natalija Sekulovska buckets.

The Black and Gold maintained the 12-point halftime lead through the third quarter and headed to the final 10 minutes up 71-59. Mercyhurst miraculously came back from a double-digit deficit with three minutes left in regulation and forced overtime with after an 11-1 run to end the fourth quarter capped off by a pull-up free throw line jumper at the 10 second mark.

Each side netted a score to open the first overtime, then McCutcheon hit a three pointer that started a 7-0 run putting West Liberty ahead 96-89 halfway into the period. That would be the last of the scoring by the Hilltoppers and Mercyhurst made yet another late comeback sending the game to a second stanza of free basketball.

It was a back-and-forth battle that saw no team lead by more than one possession in the second overtime.  All tied at 107 the Lakers were holding for what they thought would be the last shot, but a miss was rebounded by Grace Faulk and a quick timeout from Coach Cooper left 2.9 on the game clock.

West Liberty advanced the ball to the front court following the timeout. The inbound went to Anna Lucarelli, who found McCutcheon in the paint. McCutcheon went up for the game-winning score and drew a foul to go to the line with 0.4 seconds on the clock. The sophomore guard rattled home the front end to secure the Hilltoppers' first win of the season.

McCutcheon ended the game with a career-high 30 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 mark from beyond the arc and nine free throws. She also added a game-high eight assists and five rebounds to her filled stat line.

Arriana Manzay had a career day as well, pouring in a game and career high 38 points over 45 minutes of action. Manzay was highly efficient down low, going 14-for-16 from the field and added 10 free throws out of 13 attempts. The senior forward also pulled down nine rebounds in the game with three on the offensive end.

Manzay and McCutcheon became the second duo in program history to score 30+ points in the same game.

While the Hilltoppers held the edge on the boards 42-38, the Lakers were able to haul in 18 offensive boards to West Liberty's 12 and outscored WLU on second chance points 23-8 with 15 of those coming in the fourth quarter or later.

The Black and Gold finished the game shooting 57.6% and was at or above the 50 mark in all but one quarter, the fourth.

West Liberty continues its road stretch to start the season on Wednesday at Ohio Dominican. Tip off from Columbus, Ohio is scheduled for 5:30 pm.

Follow Hilltopper basketball all season online at HilltopperSports.com and on Twitter (@WLU_Hoops | @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_wbb | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.