WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team is set to take on the defending NCAA DII champion and No. 2 ranked Glenville State tomorrow afternoon inside the ASRC.

THE BASICS
January 7, 2023 | 2:00 pm | ASRC (West Liberty, W.Va.)
#2 Glenville State (12-1, 6-1 MEC) vs. West Liberty (7-5, 5-2 MEC)
Live stats and video links will be available here.

AWARENESS GAME
As a partner of the Keep Wheeling Warm Campaign, all fans who bring a donation (coats, gloves and other items) to the game will recieve a free t-shirt (while supplies last). For more information on the partnership click here.

THE HILLTOPPERS
West Liberty got back into conference play after the holiday break with an 87-74 win on the road at Concord on Wednesday night. The Hilltoppers built an early double-digit lead, but Concord came back to tie the game in the third quarter. West Liberty was able to regain control in the fourth quarter by hitting seven three-pointers and shooting 76.9% from the floor. Overall, WLU shot 46.4% from beyond the arc in the game and went 20-for-24 from the free throw line. Grace Faulk led the team with a career-high 21 points featuring six triples, while Sonia Sarda totaled 15 points, the most in her Hilltopper career, and Karly McCutcheon added 14 points.
 
The Hilltoppers are shooting 46.3% from the field this season, the best mark in the MEC and 13^th best in DII. Beyond the arc, they are making 35.9% of their attempts for an average of 9.1 triples per game, the 13th most in the country. The shooting success is largely accredited to the sharing of the basketball by the Black and Gold, as they are 11^th in DII averaging 17.8 assists per game. This all leads to the 15^th most points per game in the nation, at 78.3.
 
West Liberty is 7-0 when scoring above 77 points and 0-5 when below the mark. The Hilltoppers have shot over 50% three times this season, most recently in the win over Tiffin (54%) and had a season-high in the home conference victory against Notre Dame (59.6%).
 
WLU has drained seven or more three pointers in every outing this year, featuring three games with double-digit triples. On the defensive end, the 'Toppers are holding their opposition to 28.6% shooting from long range. They have not allowed more than seven three's in a game and have held opponents to just one three pointer five times.
 
Senior forward Arriana Manzay earned her second MEC Player of the Week honor last week, this time sharing it with Concord's Jaisah Smith. Manzay had her first game in single digits last time out scoring eight at Concord. She remains top-5 in the country in field goal percentage, shooting 66.2%, and second in the conference in points per game, at 19.8. The Lubbock, Texas native is third in the MEC on the glass averaging 9.8 boards per game. She has five double-doubles on the year. Manzay has six games with 20-plus and two 30-point games. She set career-highs with 38 points against Mercyhurst and 17 rebounds versus West Virginia State.
 
McCutcheon, a sophomore guard, averages 3.33 long balls per game, the fourth most in DII, and 18.5 points per game to lead the outside shooting effort for the Black and Gold. She is shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc and 73.5% from the field, ranking second and fourth in the MEC. McCutcheon has netted double-digits in all but one game and has five games above 20, featuring a pair of 30-point outings. She has had multiple threes in every game with a career-high eight coming in the win at Davis & Elkins, where she also set career-highs in points (32) and rebounds (12). McCutcheon is also second on the team in rebounding (5.2 per game) and assists (3.2 per game).
 
Faulk's 21-point outing at Concord was her first 20-point outing and sixth double-digit game this season. She has tallied a three pointer in every game. All nine of her field goal attempts at Concord came from beyond the arc. The junior guard is shooting 65% from deep over the last three games with four, five, and six makes over that span. Three straight games scoring 15-plus has brought her season average up to 10.8 points per game.
 
Point guard Anna Lucarelli tied her career-high for the third time this season with seven assists at Concord. She also posted a career-high seven rebounds earlier this year against Charleston. Lucarelli has had multiple assists in all but one game this year and has 19 over the last three games. The sophomore from Pittsburgh is second in the conference averaging 4.3 assists per game.
 
Division I transfer Natalija Sekulovska has hit multiple three pointers in four straight games and has scored double figures in three of the last four outings.
 
Junior guard Corinne Thomas saw her first action since the season opener against California (Pa) on November 11 in the last game at Concord. The 2021-22 first-team All-MEC selection played 18 minutes and scored six points with three rebounds and two assists.
 
Eight players average over 11 minutes per game for the Black and Gold, with McCutcheon (32.5), Manzay (32.4), and Faulk (30.6) all above 30.
 
West Liberty is 3-2 inside the ASRC this season.

THE PIONEERS
Glenville State is ranked second in the nation and has won all but one game as the defending DII champions. The only shortcoming was on November 22 at Charleston, 79-70. Coming off an 84-68 win at home against Wheeling, the Pioneers are on a nine-game win streak. This will be the sixth road game of the season for GSU, in which they have a 4-1 record.
 
The Pioneers enter with the highest scoring offense in the country, at 90.7 points per game. They have eclipsed the century mark three times this season and have 10 double-digit wins on their record. Glenville State's defense is holding opponents to 67.2 points per game for an average scoring margin of +23.5, the fourth best in DII.
 
Glenville State hoists the second most three pointers per game in DII, at 31.8 per game, and makes the fifth most, at 10.1. The Pioneers are shooting 31.6% from deep and 44.0% overall from the field. GSU leads the country in turnovers forced (29.31 per game) and turnover margin (+12.23). They also rank 17^th in DII in assists per game, at 17.0, resulting in the conference's best assist-to-turnover ration (1.00).
 
When missing, the Pioneers are right there extending possessions with the fifth most offensive rebounds per game in the nation, at 17.5.
 
Three players average double digits for Glenville State. Junior guard Mickayla Perdue leads the team at 14.7, while junior Breanna Campbell (14.4) and fifth year Mo Pruitt (10.1) are both shooting over 49% from the field. Perdue is fourth in the MEC averaging 2.62 three pointers per game to pace the outside shooting.
 
Pruitt, Campbell, and Aline Fevrier all average over five rebounds a game to lead the glass attack for the Pioneers.
 
Junior guard Tor'e Alfrod is 11^th in DII in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.83), while fellow junior guard Hya Haywood leads the team with 33 steals on the defensive end.
 
10 players average over 14 minutes per game for the Pioneers.

THE SERIES
Glenville State has won each of the last 14 meetings dating back to 2016. The last Hilltopper win came on February 20 at Glenville in overtime, 101-100. This will be the 69^th all-time meeting between the schools, with the Pioneers leading the series 46-22. Last year, the 'Toppers dropped a 92-83 decision at home and fell 84-63 at Glenville.

NEXT UP
West Liberty is home again on Wednesday taking on Frostburg State at 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.