WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team will be competing in the Mountain East Conference Tournament this week, starting with a quarterfinal matchup Thursday night against Fairmont State.

THE BASICS
March 2-5, 2023 | WesBanco Arena (Wheeling, W.Va.)
5 seed - West Liberty (17-11, 15-7 MEC)
Quarterfinals (Thursday, March 2 – 8:30 pm) vs No. 4 Fairmont State (22-8, 16-6)
Semifinals (Saturday, March 4 – 12 noon) vs Winner of No. 1 Glenville State (26-2, 20-2) and No. 9 Frostburg State (8-20, 6-16)
Championship (Sunday, March 5 – 2 pm)
Live coverage of the entire tournament can be found on the Mountain East Tournament Central page here.

THE HILLTOPPERS
West Liberty finished the regular season with a 2-0 week defeating Notre Dame on the road in convincing fashion, 78-61, then battling to a comeback victory over crosstown rival Wheeling, 87-83. Corinne Thomas spearheaded a late rally scoring all 27 of her points in the second half to lift the Black and Gold to victory after the Cardinals led by as many as 14 in the middle of the third quarter. 
 
The Hilltoppers are top-10 in DII in six different statistical categories, ranking third in three-point percentage (38.6%), three pointers per game (10.5) and assists per game (19.2), then sixth in scoring offense (80.5) and field goal percentage (46.9%). They also are 10^th in three-point attempts per game (27.1).
 
13 of WLU's 17 wins have come by double digits. West Liberty leads the conference in field goal percentage, assists per game, three-point percentage, three-pointers per game, and defensive rebounds per game (29.3), then ranks second in three-point defense (28.1%).
 
The Hilltoppers have made 10-plus threes in 14 outings, including in eight of the last 10, and have at least six long balls in all but one game this season. They have outshot their opponents in all but one game from beyond the arc and allowed more than seven threes in a game just once. WLU has held opponents to just one triple eight times along with a shutout of West Virginia Wesleyan beyond the arc on January 28.
 
West Liberty has had 20-plus assists 13 times this season and is 11-2 when doing so. The Hilltoppers also have 13 games with double-digit offensive rebounds.
 
Arriana Manzay, a senior forward, was recently named first team All-MEC, for the first time in her career, and leads the team averaging 19.0 points per game (second in the MEC) and 9.9 rebounds per game (third in the MEC). She has 14 double-doubles this season. All but one double-double has been in conference play and she has had one in 9 of the 16 games since January 7. Manzay ranks second in DII and leads the conference with a 65.7% shooting percentage. She has scored double digits in all but three games with 13 games at 20-plus and had her third 30-point outing in the home game against Fairmont State netting 32. Career-highs in both points and rebounds were set this season, scoring 38 points in the first win of the season over Mercyhurst and pulling in 18 rebounds in the home matchup against then-No.2 Glenville State. The Texas native is a two-time MEC Player of the Week this season. Manzay went over 500 career rebounds and became the 37^th member of the 1,000-point club in the Black and Gold in her senior season, entering postseason play with 1,043 points and 583 rebounds.
 
Karly McCutcheon, a sophomore guard in her third season, became the 36^th member of the West Liberty 1,000-point club in her 71^st career game versus Fairmont State. The New Castle, Pa native ranks eighth in DII and third in the MEC averaging 3.04 three pointers per game, while shooting 42.7% from beyond the arc, also ranking second in the MEC and 16^th nationally. She earned her first career all-conference honor this week being named to the second team and is scoring 17.1 points per game (8^th in the MEC) and has double-digits in all but one outing along with eight games scoring 20-plus and three 30-point games this season. McCutcheon has recorded one double-double off 32 points, 12 rebounds, and eight three pointers at D&E on December 3, and just missed one three other times with nine rebounds twice and then nine assists once. McCutcheon has multiple three pointers in all but three games and went 6-for-8 at Frostburg State, her second time with six this season. She also is dishing out 3.6 assists per game, ranking sixth in the MEC, with multiple in 13 of the last 15 games and a season-high nine in the home game against Fairmont State.
 
A 2022 first team all-conference selection, Corinne Thomas is averaging 12.9 points per game over 18 outings this season after battling an early-season injury. She has scored double digits in 12 straight games and had her fourth 20-point outing with 27, all in the second half, leading a comeback charge over Wheeling in the regular season finale. She went 6-for-8 from deep in the Wheeling win and 7-for-7 from the line, while having two stretches of scoring 11 straight points for the Hilltoppers, including the final 11 of the game. A season-high seven three-pointers (in nine attempts) came at W.Va. Wesleyan on January 28. Thomas has made multiple threes in 16 of her 18 games played.
 
Grace Faulk averages 11.6 points per game and makes 2.82 three-pointers per game while shooting 39.7% from deep, both good for fourth in the MEC. She posted a career-high 23 points off five threes in the win at West Virginia State on February 1. Faulk has made multiple threes in 12 of the last 15 games and scored double figures 18 times this season with two reaching the 20-point mark. She heated up late in last Saturday's Fairmont State game and finished with a 6-for-9 effort from deep, her third time this season tying a career-high in three-pointers. Faulk also racked up 14 assists over the last five games and had her fourth game with a season-high eight rebounds at Frostburg State.
 
Sonia Sarda has started each of the last 10 games and has been filling up the stat sheets. She is coming off a 15-point, 12-assist double-double, a career-high mark and the most assists by a Hilltopper this season. Sarda is averaging 8.2 assists over the last 5 games and is at a team-leading 3.9 assists per game on the season ranking fourth in the MEC. Sarda tied her career-high points this season in the overtime win over Charleston on February 4 with 25 points and is averaging 9.2 points per game. She has shown her rebounding presence with games of nine, eight twice, seven twice, and six in six of the last 10 games. Sarda leads the team with 27 steals in her first season on the hilltop as a graduate transfer. She is shooting 84.3% from the free throw line, the best mark on the team.
 
Jenna Riccardo scored five points in a season-high 17 minutes of action on Saturday versus Wheeling, while pulling in a career-best seven rebounds.
 
Natalija Sekulovska has been in double-digits seven times this season and averages 5.9 points over 14.5 minutes per game. Freshman Halley Smith has made 10 starts and averages 16.7 minutes per game.
 
Four Hilltoppers average over 30 minutes per game, including McCutcheon (33.3), Thomas (32.7), Manzay (31.5), and Faulk (31.2).
 
West Liberty went 9-4 at home, 7-6 on the road, and 1-1 in neutral site contests in the regular season. Four games went to overtime, featuring both neutral site games, the first two games of the season. WLU went 2-2 in OT in the regular season, wins over Mercyhurst in double OT, Charleston at home, then lost the season opener against nationally-ranked Cal (Pa) and a heartbreaking loss at Frostburg State after a half court shot sent the game to the extra period.
 
The quarterfinal will be the first Thursday game of the season for WLU. On Saturday's the Hilltoppers went 8-5, then played one Sunday game previously on December 18 at home, a 79-66 win over Tiffin.
 
WLU is 17-3 when scoring 77 or more points and 0-8 when scoring 76 or less. The Hilltoppers are 14-2 when holding opponents under 42% shooting and have held teams to less than 70 points nine times and won all nine. They are also 7-0 when committing 16 or less turnovers.

THE BRACKET
The MEC Tournament is a single elimination 10-team field.
 
West Liberty enters the five seed and will take on the No. 4 seed Fairmont State in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 8:30 pm. A win advances the Hilltoppers to the 12-noon semifinal on Saturday vs the winner of No. 1 Glenville State and No. 9 Frostburg State.
 
The championship would be on Sunday at 2 pm versus the winner of the right side of the bracket, featuring No. 2 West Virginia State, No. 3 Charleston, No. 6 Wheeling, and No. 7 Concord.
 
View the full bracket here.
 
VERSUS THE POTENTIAL OPPONENTS
Quarterfinals - Fairmont State: WLU is 1-1 this season versus Fairmont State. This will be the 88th meeting between the schools, as West Liberty holds a 49-38 advantage all-time. The Hilltoppers had a six-game win streak versus the Falcons snapped on Feb. 18, when FSU came to the hilltop and claimed a 91-85 win. Earlier this season, WLU won on the road 82-69. West Liberty won by double-digits in both regular season matchups in 2021-22 scoring above 90 points each outing, then downed the Falcons 79-70 in a quarterfinal thriller in last season's MEC Tournament.

Semifinals - Glenville State: WLU dropped both meetings against the defending national champs this year. The Hilltoppers battled back with a strong second half in the first meeting, but came up short, 94-87, then suffered an 86-61 loss on the road in early February. Glenville State has won each of the last 16 meetings dating back to 2016. The last Hilltopper win came on February 20 at Glenville in overtime, 101-100. This would be the 71st all-time meeting between the schools, with the Pioneers leading the series 48-22.
 
Semifinals – Frostburg State: WLU went 1-1 this season versus the Bobcats, both teams defended their home court. Frostburg State roared back late in the fourth quarter and forced overtime with a halfcourt launch, in game West Liberty seemingly had control of, then went on to win on February 15. In the game on the hilltop, WLU pulled away late to win 80-61 behind a dominating 43-21 second half. The recent FSU win was its first against the Hilltoppers in a new series that began in January of 2020. Frostburg State recently completed its three-year transition from DIII to DII and was confirmed as a full DII member on September 1, 2022. West Liberty is 7-1 all-time versus the Bobcats.
 
A full preview will be released if a championship appearance is secured by the Hilltoppers. WLU split this year's regular season series with West Virginia State, Charleston, and Wheeling, while sweeping Concord.

MEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
West Liberty has one MEC Tournament title and has now qualified for all 10 tournaments in the conference's history. The Hilltoppers have made the semifinals five times and appeared in the championship twice (2015 – won, 2016 – runner up).
 
Under Coach Cooper, WLU is 2-5 in five trips. One of the wins came last season over Fairmont State in the quarterfinals, 79-70. All-time the Hilltoppers are 8-8 in the conference tournament.
 
West Liberty has had one tournament MVP, Kailee Howe in 2015, two heart & hustle award winners, Hillary Southworth (2015) and Emily Bucon (2016), and two Hilltoppers recorded the highest scoring average in the tournament, Liz Flowers (23.0 in 2016) and Morgan Brunner (26.5 in 2019).
 
WLU has had players on the all-tournament team 10 times, including three on the 2016 team. The Hilltoppers have had all-tournament team representation in each of the last two events, Audrey Tingle (2022) and Olivia Belknap (2021).

Year by Year Results:
2014 - #2 seed: Loss in semifinals.
2015 - #1 seed: Won championship. 2OT win over UVA-Wise in quarterfinals, OT win over Wheeling Jesuit in semifinals, 76-55 win in championship over #6 Notre Dame.
2016 - #1 seed: Loss in championship.
2017 - #9 seed: Loss in first round.
2018 - #4 seed: Loss in quarterfinals.
2019 - #4 seed: Loss in semifinals.
2020 - #8 seed: Loss in first round.
2021 - #3 seed in North: Loss in quarterfinals.
2022 - #3 seed: Loss in semifinals.
 
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
Follow all the action of both men's and women's tournaments online by visiting the MEC Tournament Central page here.

Follow Hilltopper basketball all season online at HilltopperSports.com and on Twitter (@WLU_Hoops | @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_wbb | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.