West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team fell in the final game of their 3-game homestand to open the season, dropping Wednesday night's match-up with Kentucky State by a score of 85-70. The Thorobreds claimed control of the game in the closing minutes of the first half and opening minutes of the second half, outscoring the Hilltoppers 23-5 during the scoring run. The Black & Gold made a rally in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to five and seven points on two different occasions, but were unable to get any closer than that.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 70, Kentucky State 85
Team Records: West Liberty 1-2, Kentucky State 2-0
Attendance: 367
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Coming off a career-high performance in the last outing, Jenna Riccardo picked up where she left off and opened the scoring with a jumper to give West Liberty the early lead.
• The Hilltoppers connected on five 3-pointers in the first quarter, with two of those coming from Karly McCutcheon. Kentucky State began to get in a rhythm as they went on a 9-1 run midway through the period but 3-pointers from Bailey Beckstedt and Natalija Sekulovska stalled the run. KSU ended the first ten minutes of play with a 22-20 advantage.
• WLU's last lead of the game came with 7:40 remaining in the second quarter as Paige Julian made her lone triple of the game, giving West Liberty the 25-24 lead. The score would be tied on three more occasions midway through the period, but Kentucky State entered the halftime break on a 13-3 scoring run and grabbed a 45-35 lead. KSU shot 9-of-11 (81.8%) in the second quarter compared to 6-of-19 (31.6%) for WLU.
• The deficit grew to as many as 18 points as Kentucky State opened the third quarter on a 10-2 scoring run to go up 55-37 with 6:32 on the clock. Late in the third period shots began to fall once again for West Liberty as McCutcheon knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and Corinne Thomas and Sekulovska each hit one from deep. A jumper by Thomas then cut the margin down to single digits at 60-51 with 54 seconds left in the quarter. Julian then took a pair of trips to the free throw line in the final 45 seconds, going 3-of-4 to bring the score to 62-54 entering the fourth.
• McCutcheon opened the fourth quarter with a fastbreak 3-pointer to suddenly bring West Liberty back within five points, however Kentucky State finally put together a response with a 9-0 scoring run to push their lead back to 14 points. A steal and layup by Anna Lucarelli ended the Thorobred's run, however the Hilltoppers were not able to sustain a run of more than five points the remainder of the game. The Black & Gold's mini 5-0 run came with a layup by Julian and a 3-pointer by Thomas, bringing the score to 77-70 with 1:25 remaining in the game. KSU then ended the game on an 8-0 scoring run, pushing the final scoring margin to 15 points as they went 8-of-10 at the free throw line in the final minute to ice the game.
• West Liberty shot 22-of-69 (31.9%) from the field, 14-of-46 (30.4%) from 3-point range, and 12-of-14 (85.7%) from the free throw line compared to 29-of-65 (44.6%) from the field, 7-of-13 (53.8%) from 3-point range, and 20-of-27 (74.1%) from the free throw line for Kentucky State.
• The Thorobreds held the advantage on the boards 47-37 and posted 15 second chance points compared to only eight for the Hilltoppers. KSU also held the edge in points off turnovers 28-13 and points in the paint 34-10.
• West Liberty assisted on 18 of their 22 made baskets.
• Julian recorded new career-high marks in both points (14) and rebounds (9) in the contests.
• McCutcheon and Thomas combined for nine of the 14 3-pointers for the Black & Gold, with McCutcheon knocking down five from deep and Thomas making four.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Corinne Thomas: 20 points, 4 3-pointers, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
Karly McCutcheon: 16 points, 5 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Paige Julian: 14 points, 5-of-5 field goals, 9 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal

HEAD COACH KYLE COOPER POST GAME INTERVIEW 


UP NEXT
West Liberty will face their first road test of the season on Saturday afternoon as they travel to face Salem. The Hilltoppers and Tigers are set for a 2 p.m. tip-off inside the T. Edward Davis Gymnasium in Salem, West Virginia.