West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team makes their final appearance inside the ASRC in the 2023-24 season on Saturday, February 24, as they close the home slate against Concord. The Hilltoppers and Mountain Lions are set for a 2 p.m. tip-off following the recognition of WLU's three seniors.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: West Liberty, W.Va. (Academic Sports & Recreation Complex "ASRC")
• Tip-Off: 2 P.M.
• Senior Day: Prior to tip-off the Hilltoppers will honor three seniors within the program as they will recognize Grace Faulk, Jenna Riccardo, and Corinne Thomas.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Saturday's game with a record of 8-17 (5-12 MEC) on the season following an 86-64 loss at Glenville State on Wednesday evening.
• The Hilltoppers are currently tied for eighth place in the league standings with West Virginia Wesleyan.
• Through 25 games, WLU is averaging 75.7 points, 36.4 rebounds, 17.3 assists, 6.9 steals, and 3.2 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 40.8 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from 3-point range, and 72.1 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 (10.5), fourth in 3-point attempts per game (29.7), 11^th in assists per game (17.3), 15^th in scoring offense (75.7), 18^th in 3-point percentage (35.3%), and 22^nd in free throws made per game (15.32).
• Corinne Thomas leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 18.4 points per game, ranking third in the conference and 23^rd nationally. Also, amongst the MEC's scoring leaders are Karly McCutcheon and Bailee Smith who are ninth and 13^th in the league with 14.3 and 13.3 points per game respectively. Rounding out the four players averaging double figures is Jenna Riccardo with a scoring average of 11.9.
• Over the last five games, Riccardo has posted three 20-point games and a pair of double-doubles as she is averaging 18.6 points and 9.6 rebounds during that stretch. During those five games she is shooting the ball 32-of-53 (60.4%) from the field, 1-of-2 (50.0%) from 3-point range, and 28-of-36 (77.8%) from the free throw line.
• Thomas has 12 games of 20 or more points this season while McCutcheon, Smith, and Riccardo add five, four, and three respectively.
• The trio of Thomas, McCutcheon, and Smith makes WLU a consistent threat to score from beyond the arc as Thomas leads DII with 3.44 3-pointers per game and is second nationally with 86 total 3-pointers. McCutcheon is fifth in the MEC in both categories with 62 total 3-pointers and 2.48 3-pointers per game, ranking 35^th and 38^th nationally. Smith is seventh in the conference with 2.08 3-pointers per game and 52 total 3-pointers. It is the second consecutive season and the fourth time in the last seven seasons that three players have hit 50 or more 3-pointers during the year for WLU.
• Smith is second in the conference and ranks 35^th in DII with a 3-point percentage of 38.8 percent while Thomas and McCutcheon are third and fifth in the league with shooting percentages of 36.9 and 34.3 percent from deep respectively.
• The Hilltoppers have recorded double digit 3-point field goal totals in 17 of their 25 games this season, including 13 or more made from beyond the arc in eight contests.
• Riccardo is eighth in the conference with 7.0 rebounds per game and is seventh in the league with 3.0 offensive rebounds per game. She has collected four double-digit rebounding performances on the year and has grabbed seven or more on 18 occasions. Thomas is second on the team with 6.1 rebounds per game.
• Thomas leads the team with five double-doubles on the season while Riccardo and McCutcheon add four and three respectively.
• Smith, Bailey Beckstedt, McCutcheon, and Thomas have all played pivotal roles in facilitating the Hilltopper offense. Smith leads the team with 3.8 assists per game, ranking third in the conference, while Beckstedt and McCutcheon average 3.2 apiece in a tie for seventh in the MEC, and Thomas rounds out the group with 3.1 per game and ranks tenth in the league. Smith has dished out four or more assists in 13 games while Thomas, Beckstedt, and McCutcheon have done so in 11, nine, and eight games in 2023-24.
• Defensively, Thomas ranks 11^th in the league with 46 total steals and an average of 1.84 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 has been the rim protector for the Hilltoppers this season, ranking sixth in the MEC with 23 total blocked shots and 0.92 blocks per game. She has posted a season-high of three blocks on two occasions and notched a total of six multi-block games this year.
• In his seventh season as the head coach at West Liberty, Kyle Cooper earned his 100^th career win in a home match-up against Davis & Elkins on February 7. He now holds a career record of 100-90 with the Hilltoppers. He became just the second coach in program history to reach the milestone, joining his predecessor, Lynn Ullom.

CONCORD STORYLINES

• Concord enters Saturday's game with a record of 15-10 (10-7 MEC) on the season following a 74-71 win at home over Wheeling on Wednesday evening to bring their win streak to four.
• The Mountain Lions are currently tied for sixth in the league standings with Glenville State.
• Through 25 games CU is averaging 73.9 points, 40.4 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 13.1 steals, and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting the ball 39.8 percent from the field, 29.3 percent from 3-point range, and 72.5 percent from the free throw line.
• Concord ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in five statistical categories, ranking third in free throws made per game (17.28), fourth in free throw attempts per game (23.84), 11^th in steals per game (13.1), 12^th in offensive rebounds per game (15.9), and 16^th in turnovers forced per game (22.56).
• The Mountain Lions are led by a pair of players who average double figures in scoring with Jaisah Smith and Abbie Smith averaging 15.2 and 3.5 points per game respectively while ranking sixth and 12^th in the MEC.
• Jaisah Smith has five games with 20 or more points this season while Abbie Smith has two. Alexis Phillips and Ana Young each reached the 20-point mark once.
• Young and Nakaila Gray are the top 3-point shooters for CU, shooting 29-of-89 (32.6%) and 24-of-63 (38.1%) from beyond the arc respectively.
• Jaisah Smith holds the sixth best shooting percentage from the charity stripe in the league, shooting 86-of-110 (78.2%), while Deja Atkinson is ninth in the conference and 68-of-92 (73.9%) from the line.
• Abbie Smith is one of the top rebounders in the conference, ranking second in the MEC with 8.3 rebounds per game and 3.7 offensive rebounds per game. She has reached double figures ten times, notching a double-double each time for the most in the MEC.
• Skylar Davidson is the facilitator of the Mountain Lion offense, ranking second in the conference in both assists per game (4.4) and total assists (111). She has dished out four or more assists on 16 occasions this season.
• Defensively, Davidson and Gray both rank in the top-5 of the league leaders in steals. Davidson is second in the conference with 70 total steals and is third with 2.80 steals per game, ranking 15^th and 23^rd in DII respectively, while Gray is fourth in the conference with 66 total steals and is fifth with 2.64 steals per game to rank 23^rd and 35^th nationally. Also amongst the leagues' leaders for the Mountain Lions is Smith who is eighth in the MEC with 2.35 steals per game and tenth with 47 total steals. Davidson and Gray have each posted 18 multi-steal games while Smith has 12 on the year.
• Phillips is the rim protector for the Mountain Lions, ranking fifth in the MEC with 0.96 blocks per game and 24 total blocked shots. She has posted seven games of two or more blocks this season.
• Tesla Southcott is in her second season as the head coach at Concord with a career record of 29-27 during her time with the Mountain Lions.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty leads the all-time series 38-23.
• Concord won the first match-up this season on January 17 in Athens, West Virginia, by a score of 92-86.
• Bailee Smith scored a team-high 25 points as she went 4-of-7 from 3-point range while adding six assists and four rebounds. Karly McCutcheon, Corinne Thomas, and Jenna Riccardo each scored 17 points in the game.