WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The West Liberty University women's basketball team made a valiant comeback effort outscoring No. 2 Glenville State 58-40 in the second half, but it was not enough as the Pioneers survived, 94-87, on the road inside the ASRC this afternoon.

The defending national champions and current No. 2 team in the country, Glenville State flexed those accolades in the first half building a 54-29 advantage at the break. 

West Liberty regrouped at the half and came out firing. Corinne Thomas drained a pair of three pointers as the Hilltoppers opened the third quarter on a 14-4 run. WLU made more ground up with an 11-2 spurt late in the third before two Glenville free throws put the score at 75-61 heading to the final 10 minutes of play.

The fight continued as Karly McCutcheon and Grace Faulk each scored five early points in the fourth quarter along with a Sonia Sarda three pointer narrowed the deficit to single digits (82-74) with six minutes remaining. 

Sarda charted 12 fourth quarter points and made five straight to bring the margin down to five points (90-85) with under a minute to play, but that would be as close as West Liberty would get as the Pioneers went 4-for-4 from the free throw line to seal the deal.

Arriana Manzay finished with 26 points and a career-best 18 rebounds, 11 of which came on the offensive end, for her sixth double-double of the season.

Sarda tallied 17 of her season-high 21 points in the second half shooting 7-for-8 over the final 20 minutes to help spearhead the comeback attempt. In total, the graduate transfer shot 8-for-10 and was a perfect 3-for-3 from long range as well as 2-for-2 from the free throw line.

West Liberty outshot Glenville State from beyond the arc making 10 triples compared to GSU's five. McCutcheon drained four of her six long ball attempts and finished with 18 points, while also dishing out a game-high four assists.

Faulk ended with 12 points to round out four double-digit scorers for the Black and Gold.

The Hilltoppers shot 56.1% from the floor in the second half, including nine three pointers and a 6-for-10 mark from beyond the arc in the third quarters after making just one triple in the first half. WLU also cut down on turnovers in the ladder 20 minutes, committing just four in the second half after 21 occurred in the first.

West Liberty will be back on the hardwood on Wednesday evening inside the ASRC taking on Frostburg State. Tip off is slated 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.

Postgame Interview

Head Coach Kyle Cooper