West Liberty, W.Va. – The 40 minutes of regulation wasn't enough for either team as the West Liberty University women's basketball team fought to a 74-71 overtime win in the season opener over Mercyhurst. The win marked the second consecutive season of the Hilltoppers beating the Lakers in an overtime thriller and the Black & Gold's first win in a season opener since 2019-20, which also came against Mercyhurst.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 74, Mercyhurst 71 (OT)
Team Records: West Liberty 1-0, Mercyhurst 0-1
Attendance: 389
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bailee Smith scored the first points of the season for West Liberty as a 3-pointer from the right wing gave the Hilltoppers a 3-2 lead. It was her first points in the Black & Gold since the 2021-22 season after missing last year due to injury. Karly McCutcheon helped WLU push ahead 21-14 at the end of the first quarter with an 11-2 scoring, as she knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the opening period.
• McCutcheon continued the hot shooting in the opening minutes of the second quarter, scoring seven points in the first four and a half minutes as WLU maintained an eight point lead at 32-24. Entering the under five media timeout before halftime she had made five of her last six shot attempts.
• An and-one scoring opportunity for Mercyhurst out of the media timeout started to swing the momentum entering the halftime break as it sparked a 13-4 scoring run to end the second quarter.
• Neither team was able to grab the momentum in the opening minutes of the second half as Mercyhurst maintained a one point lead at the media timeout.
• After trailing by five shortly after the timeout, a layup by Natalija Sekulovska and a 3-pointer by Corinne Thomas off an assist by Smith knotted the game up at 47 apiece.
• The Lakers once again pulled ahead with a 6-0 scoring run at the end of the third and into the beginning of the fourth, taking a 53-47 advantage. However, the Hilltoppers continued to fight back as Thomas hit another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one and moments later McCutcheon tied the game at 55 with a layup in the paint as only 7:20 remained in regulation.
• Anna Lucarelli gave West Liberty their first lead since there was only 1:34 left in the first half as she knocked down a 3-pointer off an assist from Sekuloviska with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter.
• Bailey Beckstedt extended the scoring run to 11-2 midway through the fourth as the Hilltoppers built a 61-55 lead and held Mercyhurst scoreless for nearly six minutes.
• The Lakers ended regulation with a 7-1 run to tie the game at 62 on a layup with 6.6 seconds left.
• Following a Mercyhurst layup to score the first points of overtime, McCutcheon and Thomas hit back-to-back 3-pointers to grab the lead for good at 68-64.
• The Lakers snuck back within a point with 20 seconds left, but Lucarelli iced the game away with a pair of free throws, sealing a three point win.
• West Liberty shot 26-71 (36.6%) from the field, 11-27 (40.7%) from 3-point range, and 11-23 (47.8%) from the free throw line compared to 31-75 (41.3%) from the field, 3-16 (18.8%) from 3-point range, and 6-9 (66.7%) from the free throw line for Mercyhurst.
• The Hilltoppers won the battle on the boards 49-43 and converted 15 Laker turnovers into 15 points. The Black & Gold also held a 17-9 advantage in bench points and assisted on 15 of 26 made baskets.
• McCutcheon (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Thomas (15 points, 12 rebounds) recorded their second and fourth career double-doubles respectively. 

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Karly McCutcheon: 20 points, 4-of-8 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, 2 assists
Corinne Thomas: 15 points, 3 3-pointers, 12 rebounds, 4 assists
Bailee Smith: 9 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
 
POST GAME QUOTES
"Really, really proud of the way we overcame so much self-inflicted adversity," stated head coach Kyle Cooper. "You gotta give Mercyhurst credit because they came in and they threw their punches and made life hard for us. We had that early run and it felt good and I thought that we were going to be able to open it up coming out of the first quarter because we started to get into a serious rhythm, we were getting them off schedule, and we were playing collective basketball on both sides as a team, so it felt good. Obviously, some things not go our way, not gonna harp on it but we make a few free throws along the way and life's a little bit easier, maybe we see the ball go through the rim a little bit more but we found a way to win in an overtime game, opening game of the year, and I couldn't be more proud of them."
 
"We were anchored by Karly and Corinne having double-doubles and playing 40 plus minutes, so incredible effort by them. I thought that when it all came down to it, the game despite the adversity we hit at different times, came down to how good our leadership was and the fact that every time they got a little bit ahead of us or a possession or two ahead of us, we just stayed in that rhythm and kept throwing punches and we responded. So really, really proud of us and now we have a quick turnaround and play another good basketball team tomorrow."
 
UP NEXT
West Liberty ends the opening weekend of play with another match-up against PSAC competition in the Atlantic Region Crossover, hosting Edinboro on Saturday evening. The Hilltoppers and Fighting Scots are set for a 6 p.m. tip-off in the ASRC.