WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team is on the road this weekend taking on West Virginia Wesleyan in Buckhannon Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS
January 28, 2023 | 2 pm | Rockefeller Center (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
West Liberty (11-8, 9-4 MEC) at West Virginia Wesleyan (3-13, 2-11 MEC)
Live stats and video links will be available here.

THE HILLTOPPERS
West Liberty bounced back from a tough loss at Wheeling on Saturday with a 30-point blowout victory over Davis & Elkins at home Wednesday evening. The Hilltoppers never trailed, scoring the first seven points of the game, and held a double-digit lead for the final 29 minutes. Karly McCutcheon led all scorers with 22 points and drained six three pointers, as five 'Toppers netted double digits. Arriana Manzay scored 17 points, Grace Faulk 14, Corinne Thomas 12, Natalija Sekulovska 11, and Sonia Sarda 10 with a game-high eight rebounds and six assists. WLU tied a season-high 17 three pointers and assisted on 23 of their 32 made field goals.
 
The Hilltoppers are top-10 in DII in three different statistical categories, ranking fourth in assists per game (18.6), fifth in three pointers per game (9.8), and eighth in scoring offense (78.8). Nine of their 11 wins have come by double digits. West Liberty leads the conference in assists per game, field goal percentage (45.4%), and opponents three-point percentage (25.5%).
 
WLU has commanded the arc all season, the tie of the season-high 17 threes on Wednesday was the seventh game with double-digit three pointers. The Hilltoppers have made at least six in every game this season, while not allowing more than seven made threes in a game. They have made more threes than their opponents in every game this season and have held opponents to just one triple eight times.
 
Manzay, a senior forward, leads the Hilltoppers with nine double-doubles including two in the last three games. She ranks third in DII and leads the conference with a 66.7% shooting percentage. Manzay is scoring 19.2 points per game and pulling in 9.9 rebounds, good for second and third in the MEC. The Texas native is a two-time MEC Player of the Week this season. She has scored double digits in all but two games and netted 20-plus nine times and reached 30 points twice.
 
McCutcheon, a sophomore guard, made up for her first game without a three pointer on Saturday with six long balls against D&E. She ranks fifth in DII and leads the MEC averaging 3.16 three pointers per game, while shooting 43.2% from beyond the arc. She is scoring 17.5 points per game and has double-digits in all but one outing. Wednesday was her sixth game with 20-plus, she also has hit the 30 mark twice this season. McCutcheon has one double-double on the season, at Davis & Elkins in the first meeting, she pulled in seven boards last time out and is second on the team averaging 5.8 per game. McCutcheon also is second on the team dishing out 3.3 assists per game and has multiple in seven straight games.
 
Grace Faulk drained four three pointers on Wednesday for her sixth straight game with multiple threes, while scoring 14 points. She has scored double digits in nine of the last 10 outings and is averaging 11.4 points per game. Faulk nets 2.79 threes per outing, the fourth most in the MEC and is shooting 38.1% from deep.
 
Reigning first team all-conference player Corinne Thomas posted her third straight double digit game with 12 points on four threes Wednesday night. She also pulled down seven rebounds and five assists, her fullest stat line since returning from injury after the New Year. Thomas has made multiple threes in five straight games and eight of her nine outings this season.
 
Sonia Sarda picked up her first start of her career on Wednesday and filled the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, the ladder two game highs. Sarda is scoring 7.6 points per game and is second on the team with 15 steals this season.
 
Division I transfer Natalija Sekulovska scored 11 points off three long balls last time out, her seventh game in double digits this season. She is averaging 7.8 points per game off the bench for the Black and Gold.
 
Sophomore guard Anna Lucarelli leads the team averaging 3.9 assists per game. She has reached her career high (seven assists) four times this season, the most recent last against Alderson Broaddus on January 18. She also leads the team with 18 steals.
 
West Liberty is 4-4 in away games this season, 4-3 in MEC road action.

THE BOBCATS
West Virginia Wesleyan is coming off a thrilling 58-55 win at Wheeling on Wednesday and will look to make it two wins in a row for the first time this season. A 19-7 second quarter proved to be the difference maker. It was a back-and-forth battle late, when Shelby Genes drained a three to put the Bobcats back up 56-55 with 59 seconds to go and they sunk a pair of free throws late along with two defensive stops to secure the win.
 
The Bobcats lone other wins were against Salem (74-72) and Concord (70-58), but they have been in most games with seven of their 13 losses coming by 10 or less points including just a six-point loss at defending national champions Glenville State two weeks ago.
 
Wesleyan is scoring 57.5 points per game, the lowest in the MEC, but has the third-best scoring defense in the conference allowing 67.9 points per game. WVWC holds opponents to 40.8% shooting, while making 27.1% of their attempts. Beyond the arc, the Bobcats average 5.5 triples per game shooting 30.1%. They force the least turnovers in the league, 15.12 per game, and average a -4.18-turnover margin.
 
Freshman guard Emma Witt leads the team averaging 15.1 points per game, the lone Bobcat in double figures. Sophomore forward Daveona Hatchell is grabbing 6.3 rebounds per game to lead the team, while Witt is averaging 6.0 boards.  Witt and junior guard Courtney Wilfong are the only two to start all 16 games this season. Wilfong leads the MEC averaging 39.4 minutes per game and dishes out a team-best 3.3 assists per game.
 
West Virginia Wesleyan is 2-6 at home this season.

THE SERIES
The Hilltoppers have a 42-16 advantage in an all-time series that dates to year one of the program in 1981-82. West Liberty has won each of the eight contests, since November of 2019, including an 88-47 win at home earlier this season. The Hilltoppers built a 26-8 lead in the first quarter and cruised to victory.  Arriana Manzay led WLU with 28 points and 15 rebounds, and four other players scored in double digits. West Liberty forced 25 turnovers and converted them into 37 points, while committing a season-low 12 turnovers. The Hilltoppers had a strong rebounding performance, doubled the Bobcats on the offensive glass and had a +16 overall rebounding margin. They also outscored the Bobcats in the paint (46-24) and outshot them 9-2 from beyond the arc.
 
MEC STANDINGS
West Liberty: T4
West Virginia Wesleyan: 12
Full Standings here.
 
NEXT UP
West Liberty will stay on the road for a trip to West Virginia State on Wednesday.

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