West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team will close regular season action on Saturday, March 2, as they make the short journey to Ohio County rival Wheeling. The Hilltoppers and Cardinals are set for a 2 p.m. tip-off inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center.
 
GAME DETAILS

• Location: Wheeling, West Virginia (Alma Grace McDonough Center)
• Tip-Off: 2 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Saturday's regular season finale with a record of 9-18 (6-13 MEC) following a 69-68 loss at Notre Dame on Wednesday evening.
• The Hilltoppers are currently eighth place in the league standings.
• Through 27 games, WLU is averaging 76.7 points, 36.4 rebounds, 17.6 assists, 7.1 steals, and 3.3 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 41.1 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from 3-point range, and 72.5 percent from the free throw line.
• West Liberty ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in seven statistical categories, ranking second in 3-pointers per game (10.6), fourth in 3-point attempts per game (29.8), eighth in assists per game (17.6), 13^th in scoring offense (76.7) and 3-point percentage (35.7%), 17^th in free throw attempts per game (21.67) and free throws made per game (15.70).
• Corinne Thomas leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 19.0 points per game, ranking third in the conference and 16^th nationally. Also, amongst the MEC's scoring leaders are Karly McCutcheon and Bailee Smith who are seventh and 12^th in the league with 14.5 and 13.2 points per game respectively. Rounding out the four players averaging double figures is Jenna Riccardo with a scoring average of 12.3.
• Thomas has 13 games of 20 or more points this season while McCutcheon adds five. Smith and Riccardo have posted four apiece.
• The trio of Thomas, McCutcheon, and Smith makes WLU a consistent threat to score from beyond the arc as Thomas leads the MEC and ranks second in DII with 3.48 3-pointers per game and 94 total 3-pointers. McCutcheon is fifth in the MEC in both categories with 67 total 3-pointers and 2.48 3-pointers per game, ranking 33^rd and 37^th nationally. Smith is seventh in the conference with 57 total 3-pointers and 2.11 3-pointers per game. 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 31^st in DII with a 3-point percentage of 39.0 percent while Thomas and McCutcheon are fourth and seventh in the league with shooting percentages of 37.0 and 34.4 percent from deep respectively.
• The Hilltoppers have recorded double digit 3-point field goal totals in 18 of their 27 games this season, including 13 or more made from beyond the arc in nine contests. WLU knocked down a season-high 17 shots from 3-point range in last weekend's win over Concord.
• Riccardo is ninth in the conference with 6.9 rebounds per game and is seventh in the league with 2.9 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, Thomas, and McCutcheon have all played pivotal roles in facilitating the Hilltopper offense. Smith leads the team with 3.8 assists per game, ranking fourth in the conference, while Beckstedt is seventh and up to an average of 3.3 per game. Thomas and McCutcheon round out the group with 3.2 and 3.1 assists per game apiece, ranking eighth and ninth respectively as they have dished out 84 and 83 total on the year. Smith has dished out four or more assists in 15 games while Thomas, Beckstedt, and McCutcheon have done so in 12, ten, and nine games in 2023-24.
• Defensively, Thomas ranks tenth in the league with 50 total steals and is ninth with an average of 1.85 steals per game. She has tallied 15 multi-steal games on the year.
• McCutcheon has been the rim protector for the Hilltoppers this season, ranking fifth in the MEC with 28 total blocked shots and 1.04 blocks per game. She has notched a total of seven 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 101-91 with the Hilltoppers.

WHEELING STORYLINES

• Wheeling enters Saturday's regular season finale with a record of 17-10 (11-8 MEC) following a 73-51 win at Salem on Wednesday evening.
• The Cardinals are currently tied for fifth place in the league standings with Glenville State.
• Through 27 games WU is averaging 68.8 points, 37.7 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 9.1 steals, and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting the ball 41.4 percent from the field, 30.6 percent from 3-point range, and 73.0 percent from the free throw line.
• The duo of Shamia Stayhorn and Briarley Rogers are the only two players to average double figures score for the Cardinals, with Strayhorn ranking eighth in the MEC with 14.3 points per game while Rogers adds 12.3 points per game.
• Rogers is the top 3-point shooter on the team for Wheeling, connecting on 52-of-145 shots from deep for 35.9 percent. Another player to watch from beyond the arc is Graci Fairman who is 29-of-71 for 40.8 percent.
• Rachel Wilson leads the Cardinals on the glass with 639 rebounds per game and is 13^th in the league with 2.3 offensive boards per game.
• Kenzie Dalton is the facilitator of the WU offense, averaging 4.0 assists per game which is third best in the conference. She also ranks fourth in the league with 2.67 steals per game in 2023-24.
• Jacqui Hineson is the rim protector for the Cardinals, averaging 1.22 blocks per game with 33 total on the year.
• Anna Kowalska is in her second season as the head coach at Wheeling with a record of 31-25 during her time with the Cardinals. Overall, she is in her sixth season as a collegiate head coach, posting a career record of 98-76 with previous stops at West Virginia Tech and Life (Ga.).

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty holds the all-time series lead 57-45 and has won eight of the past 12 meetings.
• The teams last played on January 28, 2024, in the ASRC where Wheeling claimed an 83-78 victory in overtime.