West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team is set to begin a stretch of five road games in their final seven contests of the regular season as they travel to West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday, February 10. The Hilltoppers look to secure their third series sweep of 2023-24 as they are scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip-off inside the Rockefeller Center with the Bobcats in Buckhannon, West Virginia.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Buckhannon, W.Va. (Rockefeller Center)
• Tip-Off: 2 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Saturday's game with a record of 8-13 (5-8 MEC) on the season following an 80-57 victory over Davis & Elkins on Wednesday evening.
• The Hilltoppers are currently eighth place in the league standings.
• Through 21 games, WLU is averaging 75.8 points, 36.4 rebounds, 17.3 assists, 7.1 steals, and 3.3 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 40.4 percent from the field, 35.8 percent from 3-point range, and 70.0 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 (30.6), tenth in assists per game (17.3), and 17^th in scoring offense (75.8) and 3-point percentage (35.8%).
• Corinne Thomas leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 19.0 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 and Bailee Smith who are ninth and 12^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 10.5.
• Thomas has 11 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 3.62 3-pointers per game and is second nationally with 76 total 3-pointers. McCutcheon is fifth in the MEC in both categories with 54 total 3-pointers and 2.57 3-pointers per game, ranking 29^th and 32^nd nationally. Smith is seventh in the conference with 45 total 3-pointers and an average of 2.14 per game.
• Smith leads the conference and ranks 24^th in DII with a 3-point percentage of 40.2 percent while Thomas and McCutcheon are third and sixth in the conference with shooting percentages of 37.4 and 34.0 percent from deep respectively.
• The Hilltoppers have recorded double digit 3-point field goal totals in 16 of their 21 games this season, including 13 or more made from beyond the arc in eight contests.
• Riccardo averages a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game and has secured seven or more boards on 14 occasions. She ranks tenth in the MEC with 2.5 offensive rebounds per game. Thomas is second on the team with 6.0 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 and Thomas lead the team with 3.5 assists per game, ranking sixth and seventh in the conference as they have dished out 74 and 73 total assists on the year. 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 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 44 total steals and an average of 2.10 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 seventh in the MEC with 20 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 0.85 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 Wednesday night's win over Davis & Elkins, bringing his career record to 100-86 with the Hilltoppers. He becomes just the second coach in program history to reach the milestone, joining his predecessor, Lynn Ullom.

WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN STORYLINES

• West Virginia Wesleyan enters Saturday's game with a record of 6-12 (3-10 MEC) on the season following a 65-42 loss at Wheeling on Wednesday evening.
• The Bobcats are currently tenth place in the league standings.
• Through 18 games WVWC is averaging 66.6 points, 35.1 rebounds, 15.2 assists, 8.4 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting the ball 41.1 percent from the field, 33.1 percent from 3-point range, and 77.0 percent from the free throw line.
• West Virginia Wesleyan ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in one statistical category, ranking 20^th in free throw percentage (77.0%).
• The duo of Emma Witt and Sydney Baird are the only Bobcats to average double figures in scoring with 12.4 and 11.4 points per game. The pair has four games of 20 or more points apiece.
• Shelby Genes is the top scoring threat from beyond the arc for Wesleyan, averaging 1.78 3-pointers per game which ranks eighth in the MEC while shooting 32-of-99 for 32.3 percent from beyond the arc. Baird is tenth in the conference with 1.72 3-pointers per game and is 31-of-80 from deep for 38.8 percent from deep.
• Baird leads the league in free throw percentage, knocking down 55-of-58 shots from the charity stripe for 94.8 percent on the season.
• Desiree Roy leads the Bobcats on the glass, ranking sixth in the conference with 7.3 rebounds per game and 3.0 offensive rebounds per game. With six double digit rebounding performances she has secured five double-doubles on the year.
• Baird is the facilitator of the WVWC offense, dishing out 3.1 assists per game which is ninth in the MEC. In nine games this season she has recorded four or more assists.
• The trio of Genes (1.4), Baird (1.3), and Roy (1.2) all average more than one steal per game in 2023-24. Genes and Baird have both collected multiple steals in seven games this year while Roy has on six occasions.
• Roy is among the top rim protectors in the conference, ranking tenth in the MEC with 0.78 blocks per game. In two games this season she has notched multiple blocked shots.
• Brett Vincent is in his third season as the head coach at West Virginia Wesleyan, posting a record of 14-54 during his time with the Bobcats.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty holds a 44-16 lead in the all-time series and has won 20 of the last 21 meetings dating back to 2012-13.
• The Hilltoppers scored their tenth consecutive win over the Bobcats with a 78-72 win inside the ASRC on November 29, 2023.
• Karly McCutcheon scored a game-high of 22 points and collected three steals in the win while Bailee Smith knocked down 4-of-7 from 3-point range to add 16 points while dishing out three assists.