West Liberty, W.Va. – The upset bid for the West Liberty University women's basketball team fell short on Saturday afternoon as the MEC leading Fairmont State Falcons held on for a 77-69 win inside the ASRC. The Falcons posted a pair of scoring runs during the second quarter that proved to be crucial in building a lead that continued to sway to the 10-point mark throughout the third period. While the Hilltoppers remained within striking distance throughout the contest, the defense locked in during the fourth quarter and limited the Falcons to just two made field goals, however they were only able to get as close as four points in the early minutes of the final quarter as Karly McCutcheon knocked down a 3-pointer.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 69, (RV) Fairmont State 77
Team Records: West Liberty 8-16 (5-11 MEC), Fairmont State 19-5 (13-4 MEC)
Attendance: 436
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After Fairmont State scored the first four points of the game in the opening two minutes of action, the West Liberty defense responded to hold the Falcons scoreless for nearly three minutes while Karly McCutcheon and Bailey Beckstedt drew the Hilltoppers even at four with a layup and pair of free throws. FSU broke the scoring drought with a layup to take a 6-4 lead into the first quarter media timeout. Jenna Riccardo and Corinne Thomas answered layups by Fairmont State with layups of their own to keep the game tied, however the Falcons proceeded to go on a 7-2 scoring run to extend their lead to five (15-10) with 1:28 to play in the period. McCutcheon stalled the momentum with a right wing 3-pointer to bring WLU back within two, but the Falcons took a 19-15 lead into the second quarter after shooting 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the final minute while McCutcheon also connected on a pair with ten seconds remaining.
• A layup by Bailee Smith opened the scoring in the second quarter, however Fairmont State sparked an 8-0 scoring run and pushed the lead to double digits for the first time at 27-17 with 7:45 to play in the period before Thomas interrupted the run with her first 3-pointer of the game. The Falcon scoring run would end at 10-3 and a nine point advantage (29-20), but Thomas' basket from beyond the arc lit a spark for the Hilltoppers as well. A 3-pointer by Bailee Smith and back-to-back layups by Riccardo off assists from Paige Julian capped a 10-2 scoring run for WLU as they clawed back to within two points at 29-27 with just under five minutes to play before the break. A second push by Fairmont State resulted in another 10-2 scoring run as the lead once again grew to ten points (39-29) before a 3-pointer by Grace Faulk trimmed the deficit to 39-32 at halftime.
• The teams traded 3-pointers on their first possessions of the third quarter as Thomas answered Fairmont State off an assist from McCutcheon. West Liberty started to chip away at the Falcon lead in the opening minutes as the deficit was down to five on two occasions after layups by Smith and McCutcheon, but a fastbreak layup for FSU pushed the lead back to seven (51-44) at the under five media timeout with 4:46 left in the period. Following the timeout the Fairmont State lead was extended back to ten on two occasions, but layups by Riccardo and Faulk once again kept the Hilltoppers within striking distance as the lead was back town to six with just under three minutes on the clock. The constant momentum swings continued in the final minutes as an 8-3 scoring run for FSU gave them their largest lead of the game at 11 (64-53) with 1:06 to play before Julian ended the scoring in the third with a pair of free throws to make the score 64-55 entering the fourth.
• West Liberty scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and a right wing 3-pointer by McCutcheon fired up the ASRC crowd as the Hilltoppers drew within four (64-60) and pushed their scoring run to 7-0. While Fairmont State momentarily stabilized the momentum the West Liberty defense was locked in during the fourth quarter as the Falcons entered the under five media timeout clinging to a 68-62 lead as they had only made one of their last 12 shot attempts from the field. In the closing minutes the Black & Gold trimmed the lead down to as low as five following layups by Thomas and Riccardo, but never any closer as the Falcons relied on 9-of-14 free throw shooting in the final ten minutes to manage a 77-69 win as WLU held FSU to just 2-of-14 shooting from the field during the period.
• West Liberty shot 26-of-57 (45.6%) from the field, 6-of-24 (25.0%) from 3-point range, and 11-of-12 (91.7%) from the free throw line compared to 26-of-71 (36.6%) from the field, 4-of-17 (23.5%) from 3-point range, and 21-of-29 (72.4%) from the free throw line for Fairmont State.
• The Falcons held the advantage in points off turnovers (27-14), second chance points (15-7), fast break points (12-8) and bench points (13-7) while the teams were even with 40 points apiece in the paint.
• WLU shot better than 80 percent from the free throw line for the third consecutive game and has knocked down 53-of-61 (86.9%) from the charity stripe in those contests.
• The Hilltopper defense held the Falcons to 4-of-17 (23.5%) from beyond the arc, the 12^th time in the last 16 games they have held an opponent below 30 percent from 3-point range. During the 16 game stretch their opponents are only 56-of-237 for 23.6 percent from deep.
• Riccardo led West Liberty in scoring by tying her career-high with 21 points in the game, marking her second 20-point game in the team's last three outings.
• With a team-high ten rebounds in the game, Thomas secured her fifth double-double of the season.
• Four WLU players connected on a 3-pointer in the game, led by McCutcheon and Thomas who both made two baskets from beyond the arc.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Jenna Riccardo: 21 points, 10-of-13 field goals, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist
Karly McCutcheon: 14 points, 2 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block
Corinne Thomas: 13 points, 2 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Bailee Smith: 10 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals
 
POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE


UP NEXT
West Liberty will return to the road for Wednesday's mid-week contest as they travel to Glenville State. The Hilltoppers and Pioneers are slated for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off inside the Waco Center in Glenville, West Virginia.