West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team keyed in on the defensive side of the ball early in the first half and secured an 80-57 win over Davis & Elkins on Wednesday evening. The Hilltoppers held the Senators scoreless for more than six minutes in the first quarter and another stretch of four and half minutes during the second quarter as they held D&E to the lowest scoring output by a WLU opponent this season in head coach Kyle Cooper's 100^th win at the helm of the program.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 80, Davis & Elkins 57
Team Records: West Liberty 8-13 (5-8 MEC), Davis & Elkins 2-17 (1-12 MEC)
Attendance: 201
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Corinne Thomas scored six of West Liberty's first ten points as the Hilltoppers took a 10-6 lead into the media timeout with 4:44 remaining in the opening quarter. An ensuing 14-0 scoring run for WLU saw their defense hold D&E scoreless for more than six minutes of game time, until the Senators scored on a layup in the closing seconds of the period to make it 22-8 in favor of the Black & Gold.
• West Liberty's scoring run grew to 21-4 in the early minutes of the second quarter, bringing the lead to 29-10 with 8:08 left in the period as Davis & Elkins called a timeout to try and stall the momentum. The Hilltopper defense continued to dig in and held the Senators scoreless for more than four and a half minutes as the lead grew to 23 points (33-10) after a free throw by Thomas. The Senators put together a response in the closing minutes of the first half as they went on a 13-0 scoring run that allowed them to take momentum into the halftime break, cutting the WLU lead down to 33-23.
• After Bailee Smith opened the scoring in the third quarter with a layup, Davis & Elkins extended their scoring run to 18-2 as they cut the West Liberty lead to single digits with a 3-pointer as 8:42 remained on the clock. After the lead was cut to seven, the Hilltoppers answered with an 8-1 scoring run that pushed their lead back to as many as 14 points (45-31), however D&E continued to fight. The Senators once again cut the lead back to single digits with a steal and fastbreak layup making it 47-39 with 1:36 remaining in the period. The Hilltoppers closed the third by making five of their last six shot attempts, capped by Smith's 3-pointer to push the scoring run to 9-0 entering the final ten minutes of play with a 56-39 advantage.
• After Davis & Elkins opened the fourth quarter on another scoring run of 7-1, West Liberty responded with a 9-2 rally to push the lead to 18 points (66-48). Moments later after a free throw by the Senators, Thomas knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the game to make it a 20-point lead (69-49). With a pair of free throws from Jenna Riccardo and a 3-pointer by Natalija Sekulovska with 11 seconds remaining, the Hilltoppers secured their largest lead of the game at 26 points (80-54).
• West Liberty shot 25-of-54 (46.3%) from the field, 10-of-28 (35.7%) from 3-point range, and 20-of-30 (66.7%) from the free throw line compared to 23-of-70 (32.9%) from the field, 3-of-12 (25.0%) from 3-point range, and 8-of-17 (47.1%) from the free throw line for Davis & Elkins.
• The Hilltoppers held the advantage in points off turnovers (23-16) and fast break points (9-6) while the Senators held the edge in points in the paint (38-26), second chance points (14-10), and bench points (30-8).
• With her 11^th game of 20 or more points this season, Thomas led four Hilltoppers in double figures 21 points. Smith added 18 points and McCutcheon and Riccardo each scored 16. It marked the second time this season that four players scored 16 or more points in the same game.
• Four WLU players connected on a 3-pointer in the game, led by Thomas with four from beyond the arc while Smith knocked down three. Thomas now has made three or more 3-pointers in 17 games this year while Smith has ten times.
• Limiting D&E to 3-of-12 (25.0%) from beyond the arc, the Hilltopper defense has now held opponents to below 30 percent from 3-point range in ten of the last 13 games.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Corinne Thomas: 21 points, 4 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
Bailee Smith: 18 points, 7-of-9 field goals, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Karly McCutcheon: 16 points, 5-of-9 field goals, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Jenna Riccardo: 16 points, 6-of-10 field goals, 9 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block

POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE (JENNA RICCARDO, HEAD COACH KYLE COOPER, AND BAILEE SMITH)

 
UP NEXT
Starting with a visit to West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday, February 10, the West Liberty basketball programs will close the season with five of their next seven games on the road. The Hilltoppers and Bobcats are slated for a 2 p.m. tip-off in Buckhannon, West Virginia.