West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team is set for their second consecutive road game as the regular season continues to wind down and looks to avenge an overtime loss from this past weekend as they travel to take on Frostburg State on Wednesday (February 14) evening. The Hilltoppers search for their third season sweep of 2023-24 as they face the Bobcats, who are in the midst of their best season in their short DII history, at 5:30 p.m. inside Bobcat Arena in Frostburg, Maryland.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Frostburg, Md. (Bobcat Arena)
• Tip-Off: 5:30 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Wednesday's game with a record of 8-14 (5-9 MEC) on the season following an 87-81 loss at West Virginia Wesleyan in overtime on Saturday. The loss to the Bobcats marked the fourth overtime game of the season for the Hilltoppers, falling to 2-2 in OT in 2023-24.
• The Hilltoppers are currently eighth place in the league standings.
• Through 22 games, WLU is averaging 76.0 points, 36.3 rebounds, 17.3 assists, 6.9 steals, and 3.3 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 40.4 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from 3-point range, and 70.7 percent from the free throw line.
• West Liberty ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in six statistical categories, ranking second in 3-pointers per game (10.9), fourth in 3-point attempts per game (30.4), ninth in assists per game (17.3), 14^th in scoring offense (76.0) and 3-point percentage (35.7%), and 23^rd in free throw attempts per game (21.55)
• Corinne Thomas leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 18.7 points per game, ranking third in the conference and 24^th nationally. Also, amongst the MEC's scoring leaders are Karly McCutcheon and Bailee Smith who are eighth and 14^th in the league with 14.8 and 13.2 points per game respectively. Rounding out the four players averaging double figures is Jenna Riccardo with a scoring average of 11.0.
• Thomas has 11 games of 20 or more points this season while McCutcheon and Smith add five and three respectively. Riccardo notched her first career 20-point game with 21 against WVWC on Saturday.
• The trio of Thomas, McCutcheon, and Smith makes WLU a consistent threat to score from beyond the arc as Thomas leads DII with 3.55 3-pointers per game and is second nationally with 78 total 3-pointers. McCutcheon is fifth in the MEC and 29^th nationally in both categories with 2.64 3-pointers per game and 58 total 3-pointers. Smith is seventh in the conference with 2.05 3-pointers per game and 45 total 3-pointers.
• Smith is second in the conference and ranks 39^th in DII with a 3-point percentage of 38.5 percent while Thomas and McCutcheon are third and fifth in the league with shooting percentages of 37.1 and 34.9 percent from deep respectively.
• The Hilltoppers have recorded double digit 3-point field goal totals in 16 of their 22 games this season, including 13 or more made from beyond the arc in eight contests.
• After securing a career-high of 12 rebounds against WVWC, Riccardo notched her third double-double of the season and is now up to tenth in the MEC with an average of 6.7 boards per game. Additionally, she is tenth in the conference with 2.5 offensive rebounds per game. In 2023-24 Riccardo has grabbed seven or more rebounds on 15 occasions this season. Thomas is second on the team with 5.9 rebounds per game.
• Thomas leads the team with four double-doubles this season while Riccardo and McCutcheon have three and two respectively this year.
• Smith, Thomas, Bailey Beckstedt, and McCutcheon have all played pivotal roles in facilitating the Hilltopper offense. Smith and Thomas lead the team with 3.5 and 3.4 assists per game respectively, ranking sixth and seventh in the conference. Beckstedt's season average of 3.3 assists per game is eighth in the MEC while McCutcheon rounds out the group with 3.0 assists per game for ninth in the conference. Smith and Thomas have recorded four or more assists on ten and nine occasions while Beckstedt and McCutcheon have eight and six times respectively.
• Defensively, Thomas ranks tenth in the league with 44 total steals and an average of 2.00 steals per game. She has tallied 14 multi-steal games on the year and notched a season-high of four on five different occasions.
• McCutcheon and Paige Julian have been the rim protectors for the Hilltoppers. McCutcheon ranks fifth in the MEC with 21 total blocked shots and an average of 0.95 per game while Julian is ninth in the league with 17 total blocked shots and an average of 0.81 per game. McCutcheon has posted a season-high of three blocks on two occasions and notched a total of six multi-block games this year while Julian has three multi-block games.
• In his seventh season as the head coach at West Liberty, Kyle Cooper earned his 100^th career win in last Wednesday's win over Davis & Elkins. He now holds a career record of 100-87 with the Hilltoppers. He becomes just the second coach in program history to reach the milestone, joining his predecessor, Lynn Ullom.

FROSTBURG STATE STORYLINES

• Frostburg State enters Wednesday's game with a record of 13-9 (10-5 MEC) on the season following an 84-83 win at Charleston on Saturday. The Bobcats have secured their winningest season overall and in conference play since making the move to the MEC and DII in 2019-20.
• The Bobcats are currently third place in the league standings.
• Through 22 games FSU is averaging 75.2 points, 39.6 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 7.4 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting the ball 44.6 percent from the field, 33.7 percent from 3-point range, and 77.3 percent from the free throw line.
• Frostburg State ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in four statistical categories, ranking 14^th in free throws made per game (15.91), 18^th in free throw percentage (77.3%), and 23^rd in field goal percentage (44.6%) and scoring offense (75.2).
• The Bobcats are led by DII's leading scorer, Emilee Weakley, who is averaging 25.2 points per game. She is joined in double figures by Maggie Sharp and Jenna Muha who add scoring averages of 11.2 and 10.3.
• Weakley has scored 20 or more points in 15 of her 19 games played and has scored 30 or more in five contests. Sharp has also notched a pair of 20-point games while Allana Tate has recorded one.
• Sharp is the top scoring threat from beyond the arc for FSU, leading the conference in 3-point percentage as she has knocked down 61-of-153 from deep. She is second in the league with 61 total made baskets from beyond the arc and holds an average of 2.77 3-pointers per game.
• Muha and Weakley rank third and fourth in the MEC in free throw percentage, knocking down 56-of-67 (83.6%) and 123-of-152 (80.9%) respectively.
• Muha and Weakley rank sixth and ninth in the conference on the glass, averaging 7.4 and 6.7 rebounds per game. Muha has recorded double digit rebounding performances on four occasions, leading to two double-doubles, while Weakley has a pair of double-doubles off of two double figure rebounding performances.
• Tate is the facilitator of the Bobcat offense, ranking ninth in the league with 3.0 assists per game and a total of 66 total assists. She has dished out three or more assists in 14 games.
• Grace Middleton leads a trio of Frostburg State players averaging more than 1.0 steal per game with an average of 1.3. She is joined by Tate and Weakley who collect 1.2 steals per game apiece. Middleton has notched eight multi-steal games while Weakley and Tate have recorded multiple steals in seven and eight games respectively.
• Jasmine Johnson is the rim protector for Frostburg State, ranking fifth in the MEC with 21 total blocked shots and an average of 0.95 per game. She has recorded multiple blocks in six games this season.
• Jenna Eckleberry is in her second season as the head coach at Frostburg State with a record of 22-30 during her time with the Bobcats. In her tenth season overall as a collegiate head coach, she holds a 140-129 career record after spending eight prior seasons at Shepherd.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty leads the all-time series 8-1.
• The Hilltoppers defeated the Bobcats in the first game of the 2024 calendar year on January 10 inside the ASRC, 84-77.
• Corinne Thomas scored a team-high 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, while also grabbing nine rebounds in the win. Bailee Smith added 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and dished out five assists in the game.