West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team concludes their stretch of five home games in a span of six contests as they welcome Davis & Elkins to the hilltop and celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Wednesday, February 7. The Hilltoppers look to complete the season sweep of the Senators in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off inside the ASRC.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: West Liberty, W.Va. (Academic Sports & Recreation Complex "ASRC")
• Tip-Off: 5:30 P.M.
• National Girls & Women in Sports Day: The first 50 fans in attendance will receive a West Liberty women's basketball poster commemorating National Girls & Women in Sports Day.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Wednesday's game with a record of 7-13 (4-8 MEC) on the season following an 81-67 loss at home to Charleston on Saturday afternoon.
• The Hilltoppers are currently eighth place in the league standings.
• Through 20 games, WLU is averaging 75.6 points, 36.3 rebounds, 17.4 assists, 7.0 steals, and 3.4 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 40.1 percent from the field, 35.8 percent from 3-point range, and 70.3 percent from the free throw line.
• West Liberty ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in five statistical categories, ranking second in 3-pointers per game (11.0), fourth in 3-point attempts per game (30.7), 11^th in assists per game (17.4), 17^th in 3-point percentage (35.8%), and 19^th in scoring offense (75.6).
• Corinne Thomas leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 18.8 points per game, ranking third in the conference and 21^st nationally. Amongst the MEC's scoring leaders she is also joined by Karly McCutcheon who is ninth in the league with 14.2 points per game. Rounding out the four players averaging double figures is Bailee Smith (13.1) and Jenna Riccardo (10.3).
• On Saturday, Thomas joined 2016 graduate Liz Flowers as the only players in program history to record 1,000+ points, 400+ rebounds, 250+ 3-pointers, 200+ assists, and 100+ steals in their careers.
• Thomas has ten games of 20 or more points this season while McCutcheon and Smith add 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 3.60 3-pointers per game and 72 total 3-pointers. McCutcheon is third in the MEC in both categories with 52 total 3-pointers and 2.60 3-pointers per game, ranking 29^th and 31^st nationally. Smith leads the conference and ranks 34^th in DII with a 3-point percentage of 39.3 on 42-of-107 shooting.
• The Hilltoppers have recorded double digit 3-point field goal totals in 15 of their 20 games this season, including 13 or more made from beyond the arc in eight contests.
• Riccardo averages a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game and has secured seven or more boards on 13 occasions. She ranks 11^th in the MEC with 2.4 offensive rebounds per game. Thomas is second on the team with 5.9 boards per game.
• Thomas leads the team with four double-doubles this season while Riccardo and McCutcheon each have two this year.
• Smith, Thomas, Bailey Beckstedt, and McCutcheon have all played pivotal roles in facilitating the Hilltopper offense. Smith leads the team with 3.6 assists per game, ranking fifth in the conference, while Thomas is close behind, ranking seventh with an average of 3.5 assists. Beckstedt's season average of 3.4 assists per game is eighth in the MEC while McCutcheon rounds out the group with 3.0 assists per game for tenth in the conference. Smith and Thomas have each recorded four or more assists on nine occasions while Beckstedt and McCutcheon have eight, and six times respectively.
• Defensively, Thomas ranks tenth in the league with 41 total steals and an average of 2.05 steals per game. She has tallied 13 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 sixth in the MEC with 20 total blocked shots and an average of 1.00 per game while Julian is eighth in the league with 16 total blocked shots and an average of 0.84 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.
• Kyle Cooper is in his seventh season as the head coach at West Liberty with a career record of 99-86 with the Hilltoppers.

DAVIS & ELKINS STORYLINES

• Davis & Elkins enters Wednesday's game with a record of 2-16 (1-11 MEC) on the season following an 85-77 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon.
• The Senators are currently 11^th place in the league standings.
• Through 18 games D&E is averaging 58.4 points, 36.3 rebounds, 10.9 assists, 8.6 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting the ball 35.9 percent from the field, 26.6 percent from 3-point range, and 65.1 percent from the free throw line.
• Taylor Smith is the lone Senator to average double figures with 11.1 points per game in 2023-24. She has recorded one game of 20 or more points this season.
• Smith is the top scoring threat from 3-point range as she has knocked down 27-of-80 shots for 33.8 percent from deep. Another player to watch is Zenevieve Coronado-Casebolt who is 15-of-39 for 38.5 percent from distance.
• Jackie Wright leads D&E on the glass, grabbing a team-best 5.1 rebounds per game while ranking 13^th in the MEC with 2.3 offensive rebounds per game. She has reached double digit rebounds in three games, notching a pair of double-doubles in the process.
• Taylor Smith and Alexis Smith have been the facilitators of the Davis & Elkins offense as they each average 2.2 assists per game. They have notched three or more assists on six and seven occasions respectively.
• Taylor Smith averages a team-high of 1.4 steals per game while LaChazity Shaver and Madison Butler each add 1.3 per game. Smith has recorded eight multi-steal games while Shaver and Butler have on six and five occasions.
• Donna Carr is in her second season as the head coach at Davis & Elkins, posting a career record of 9-36 during her time with the Senators.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty holds a 38-13 lead in the all-time series and has won seven of the last eight meetings dating back to 2019-20 when Davis & Elkins joined the MEC.
• The Hilltoppers secured their sixth straight win over the Senators with a 96-67 victory over the Senators on December 2, 2023, inside the McDonnell Center in Elkins, West Virginia.
• Corinne Thomas led the way with 21 points and recorded her 1,000^th career point with her first of five 3-pointers in the win. Bailee Smith added 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field.