West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team secured a win in the conference opener for the third consecutive year on Tuesday night as they defeated Notre Dame 84-75 inside the ASRC. The Hilltoppers led the entirety of the contest and held a lead as large as 25 points in the third quarter, while being able to withstand a late rally by the Falcons as they cut the lead down to single digits in the final minutes of the game.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 84, Notre Dame 75
Team Records: West Liberty 3-2 (1-0 MEC), Notre Dame 1-4 (0-2 MEC)
Attendance: 276
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• West Liberty jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as Jenna Riccardo once again put in the first basket of the game and Bailee Smith scored eight of the team's first 13 points. Smith knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the opening minutes, helping the Hilltoppers to a 13-9 lead at the under five media timeout. Karly McCutcheon pushed the lead to double digits as her layup made it a 19-9 ball game with 3:23 remaining in the opening period. Making her season debut, Grace Faulk scored the final five points of the quarter when she knocked down a 3-pointer off an assist from Bailey Beckstedt and proceeded to knock down a pair of free throws in the final minute to give WLU the 26-13 lead.
• McCutcheon and Smith each knocked down shots from deep in the opening minutes of the second quarter to extend the lead to 32-17, however Notre Dame didn't let the game get out of reach as they went into the under five media timeout only down 12 at 33-21 with 4:53 left in the half. The Black & Gold maintained a lead of 12-14 points until a 3-pointer by Faulk from the right corner gave West Liberty a 41-25 advantage entering halftime.
• McCutcheon helped WLU open up the lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter as she knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight of the teams first 12 points during a 12-3 scoring run to push the lead to 25, the largest of the game with 6:10 remaining in the period. The Hilltoppers matched the 25 point advantage one more time with a fastbreak layup by Riccardo with 1:45 remaining. Notre Dame closed the final 1:27 of the quarter on a 9-2 scoring run to cut the lead down to 68-50 entering the fourth.
• The Falcons carried the momentum into the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, extending the run to 14-2 and cutting the WLU lead down to 68-55 with 8:06 remaining before McCutcheon made a layup to stall the rally. A 3-pointer from Corinne Thomas gave the Hilltoppers their largest lead of the final period at 77-61 with 5:09 remaining, however NDC still had one final charge left as they outscored WLU 14-7 in the final 4:57 of the contest but were unable to get any closer than nine points.
• West Liberty shot 26-of-66 (39.4%) from the field, 13-of-42 (31.0%) from 3-point range, and 19-of-30 (63.3%) from the free throw line compared to 28-of-58 (48.3%) from the field, 3-of-7 (42.9%) from 3-point range, and 116-of-24 (66.7%) from the free throw line for Notre Dame.
• The Hilltoppers held the advantage on the boards 40-37 and posted a 14-0 advantage in second chance points off 14 offensive rebounds. The Black & Gold assisted on 18 of their 26 made baskets.
• West Liberty has made ten or more 3-pointers in four of their five games this season.
• Five Hilltoppers made a shot from beyond the arc, with Thomas knocking down four while Smith and McCutcheon each connected three.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Corinne Thomas: 19 points, 4 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Karly McCutcheon: 19 points, 3 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Bailee Smith: 19 points, 3 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Jenna Riccardo: 11 points, 8 rebounds (5 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block
 
HEAD COACH KYLE COOPER POST GAME INTERVIEW


UP NEXT
West Liberty will next be in action on Wednesday, November 29, when they host West Virginia Wesleyan following the Thanksgiving break. The Hilltoppers and Bobcats are set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off inside the ASRC.