West Liberty, W.Va. – In their lone home game of the month of December, the West Liberty University women's basketball team fell to the preseason MEC favorites 78-61 on Saturday night in the ASRC. The Yellow Jacket defense was a consistent factor in the contest as they forced 36 Hilltopper turnovers, converting them into 34 points off turnovers and a 77-56 advantage in shot attempts.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 61, West Virginia State 78
Team Records: West Liberty 5-4 (3-2 MEC), West Virginia State 5-4 (3-3 MEC)
Attendance: 344
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• West Virginia State grabbed the momentum right out of the gates with a 19-2 scoring run that forced West Liberty to take a timeout and send the teams to the under five media timeout with 4:13 left in the quarter. Out of the timeout Paige Julian drew a charge and knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Hilltoppers some confidence. WLU scored their fifth consecutive point with a pair of free throws from Bailey Beckstedt. Bailee Smith scored her first points of the game with a 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining and helped West Liberty outscore West Virginia State 9-7 following the timeout. The Yellow Jackets ended the opening ten minutes of play with a 26-11 advantage.
• State once again grabbed the momentum early in the second quarter as they scored the first eight points of the period and pushed the lead to 34-11, the largest lead of the game. Jenna Riccardo scored the first points of the second quarter for West Liberty 1:01 into the period with a pair of free throws. The free throws helped spark the momentum for an 11-3 scoring run after Natalija Sekulovska knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and Corinne Thomas added one. The teams went back-and-forth in the final minutes of the half and a layup in the closing seconds for West Virginia State made it a 41-28 advantage for the Yellow Jackets going into the halftime break.
• West Virginia State scored the first four points of the third quarter, before Corinne Thomas knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing with 7:10 left in the period. A slow start to the second half resulted in only five points for each team through the first five minutes as WVSU entered the media timeout at 4:51 with a 46-33 lead. A floater by Smith out of the timeout cut the deficit to 11, however, the Yellow Jackets opened up the lead to 57-37 entering the fourth quarter with an 11-2 scoring run in the final 3:11.
• A layup by Julian and a 3-pointer by Smith started to build the momentum for a West Liberty rally as they scored the first five points of the fourth quarter. While West Virginia State was able to score four unanswered the Hilltoppers went on a 20-9 scoring run to open the final period. On two occasions Thomas knocked down deep 3-pointers from the left wing to cut the deficit to single digits, first making it 66-57 with 3:44 remaining and then 68-61 with 2:13 to play. Seven points, however, was the closest that WLU would get in the contest as the 3-pointer was the Black & Golds final points of the game. The Yellow Jackets ended the game on a 10-0 scoring run and iced the game away with 5-of-6 free throw shooting in the final minute.
• West Liberty shot 21-of-56 (37.5%) from the field, 10-of-31 (32.3%) from 3-point range, and 9-of-12 (75.0%) from the free throw line compared to 28-of-77 (36.4%) from the field, 7-of-30 (23.3%) from 3-point range, and 15-of-18 (83.3%) from the free throw line for West Virginia State.
• WLU assisted on 18 of 21 made shot attempts in the game.
• The Yellow Jackets won the turnover battle as they forced 36 Hilltopper turnovers, converting them into 34 points. The Black & Gold forced 22 WVSU turnovers and converted them into 25 points. The turnovers also resulted in a 77-56 advantage in shot attempts for State.
• A trio of West Liberty athletes scored in double figures as Thomas led the way with 15 points while Riccardo and Smith added 12 and 11 points respectively.
• Four WLU players connected on a 3-pointer in the game as Thomas knocked down a game-high four shots from beyond the arc while Smith connected on three from deep.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Corinne Thomas: 15 points, 4 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals
Jenna Riccardo: 12 points, 4-of-4 field goals, 4-of-4 free throws, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Bailee Smith: 11 points, 3 3-pointers, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
Reagan Vinskovich: 9 points, 4-of-5 field goals, 2 rebounds
 
HEAD COACH KYLE COOPER AND CORINNE THOMAS POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE VS. WEST VIRGINIA STATE


UP NEXT
West Liberty will play the first of three consecutive games to end the 2023 calendar year in the Buckeye State on Tuesday, December 12, at Walsh. The Hilltoppers and Cavaliers will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in Alumni Arena in North Canton, Ohio.