Fairmont, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team fell on the road against their second top-10 opponent in the last three games, losing 89-72 against No. 9 Fairmont State. The Hilltoppers were unable to slow the momentum early as Falcons shot 16-25 (64.0%) in the first quarter to build a 20-point lead and were only able to get as close as 13 points in the second quarter as they attempted to rally a comeback.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 72, No. 9 Fairmont State 89
Team Records: West Liberty 6-8 (4-3 MEC), No. 9 Fairmont State 12-2 (7-1 MEC)
Attendance: 704
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Fairmont State scored on both of their first two possessions and continued to jump out to a 12-3 lead 1:49 into the game and forced a West Liberty timeout early. Out of the timeout the Falcons continued the momentum and grew the lead to 21 points (28-7) with a layup by Alyssa DeAngelo with 3:30 to play in the quarter which forced a second timeout to be called by the Hilltoppers. A driving layup by Corinne Thomas beat the buzzer and made it a 34-14 game following the first ten minutes of play.
• West Liberty began to build some momentum in the early minutes of the second quarter as Karly McCutcheon connected on a pair of 3-pointers and Grace Faulk hit one of her own while Jenna Riccardo added a pair of layups as they cut the deficit to 13 points (40-27) and outscored Fairmont State 13-6 in the opening minutes. After the Hilltoppers were able to get the deficit down to 13 points the Falcons closed the second period on a 10-4 scoring run of their own to enter the halftime break with a 50-31 advantage.
• Using a 6-3 advantage in the first four minutes of the third quarter, Fairmont State pushed their lead to 22 points (56-34) after a pair of free throws. However, West Liberty quickly responded with baskets by Paige Julian, Thomas, and Bailee Smith for a mini 6-0 run to cut the deficit back to 56-40. Following the basket by Smith with 4:23 left in the quarter, 16 points is the closest the Hilltoppers would get the remainder of the game. The Falcons would extend the lead out to 23 points in the final minute, but a pair of free throws by Thomas with five seconds remaining made it 72-51 entering the fourth.
• After a layup by McCutcheon on the opening possession of the fourth quarter, Fairmont State went on a 7-0 scoring run to take their largest lead of the game at 79-53 with 8:08 to play in the game. After a Falcon 3-pointer matched the 26-point lead with 6:04 to play, McCutcheon, Thomas, and Natalija Sekulovska connected on three consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 84-67 with 3:57 left to play. With the 9-0 scoring run broken up by a FSU made layup, Thomas extended the run to 12-2 on the fourth straight made basket from deep. The Hilltoppers momentum ended there as they went on a three minute scoring drought and did not score again until a layup by McCutcheon with nine seconds remaining ended the scoring for the game at 89-72.
• West Liberty shot 28-of-62 (45.2%) from the field, 10-of-28 (35.7%) from 3-point range, and 6-of-10 (60.0%) from the free throw line compared to 36-of-68 (52.9%) from the field, 5-of-12 (41.7%) from 3-point range, and 12-of-18 (66.7%) from the free throw line for Fairmont State.
• The Falcons held the advantage in points in the paint (62-36), points off turnovers (31-11), second chance points (13-4), and fast break points (15-13) while bench points were even (16-16).
• For the first time this season the Hilltoppers saw a pair of players score 20 or more points on the same night as McCutcheon scored 23 points and Thomas added 20. The last time this occurred was February 15, 2023, at Frostburg State when this same duo scored 33 and 23 respectively.
• Thomas recorded her second double-double of the season as she secured a game-high ten rebounds to go along with her 20 points.
• Five WLU players connected on a 3-pointer in the game as McCutcheon knocked down a game-high five shots from beyond the arc while Thomas added a pair from deep.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Karly McCutcheon: 23 points, 5-of-10 3-pointers, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists
Corinne Thomas: 20 points, 6-of-7 free throws, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
 
UP NEXT
West Liberty will play their second consecutive game away from home when they travel to Concord on Wednesday evening. The Hilltoppers and Mountain Lions are set for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off inside the Carter Center in Athens, West Virginia.