West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team begins their postseason run in nearby Wheeling as they face West Virginia Wesleyan in the first round of the 2024 MEC Women's Basketball Tournament. The Hilltoppers and Bobcats, who split the regular season series with wins on their respective home courts, are set for a 2:30 p.m. tip-off inside WesBanco Arena.
 
GAME DETAILS

• Location: Wheeling, West Virginia (WesBanco Arena)
• Tip-Off: 2:30 P.M.
• Topper Takeover: Join Hilltopper fans at Topper Takeover at River City Restaurant & Bar in downtown Wheeling two hours prior to tip-off.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Wednesday's first round match-up of the MEC Tournament with a record of 9-19 (6-14 MEC) following a 73-58 loss at Wheeling in the regular season finale.
• The Hilltoppers finished the regular season in a tie for eighth place in the league standings with West Virginia Wesleyan and Notre Dame, and they earned the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament via the tiebreaker.
• With the release of the all-conference teams and awards, Corinne Thomas became a 2-time first team selection while Karly McCutcheon earned an honorable mention nod for her second career All-MEC honor.
• Through 28 games, WLU is averaging 76.0 points, 36.3 rebounds, 17.3 assists, 7.1 steals, and 3.3 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 40.7 percent from the field, 35.6 percent from 3-point range, and 72.4 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 (10.5), fourth in 3-point attempts per game (29.6), tenth in assists per game (21.4), 13^th in 3-point percentage (35.6%), 16^th in free throw attempts per game (21.61) and scoring offense (76.0), and 18^th in free throws made per game (15.64).
• Thomas leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 19.0 points per game, ranking third in the conference and 18^th nationally. Also, amongst the MEC's scoring leaders is McCutcheon who is averaging 14.5 points per game. Rounding out the group of double figures scorers is Bailee Smith and Jenna Riccardo who add 13.1 and 12.1 points respectively.
• 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 DII with 3.46 3-pointers per game and 97 total 3-pointers. McCutcheon is fifth in the MEC in both categories with 68 total 3-pointers and 2.43 3-pointers per game, ranking 36^th and 44^th nationally. Smith is seventh in the conference with 60 total 3-pointers and 2.14 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 28^th in DII with a 3-point percentage of 39.5 percent while Thomas and McCutcheon are fourth and seventh in the league with shooting percentages of 37.0 and 34.0 percent from deep respectively.
• The Hilltoppers have recorded double digit 3-point field goal totals in 18 of their 28 games this season, including 13 or more made from beyond the arc in nine contests.
• Riccardo is ninth in the conference with 6.9 rebounds per game and is sixth 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 19 occasions. Thomas is second on the team with 6.0 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 fourth in the conference, while Beckstedt is seventh with an average of 3.2 per game. Thomas and McCutcheon round out the group and are tied with 3.1 assists per game apiece. 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 eighth in the league with 1.86 steals per game and is ninth with 52 total steals. She has tallied 16 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 1.00 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 101-92 with the Hilltoppers.

WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN STORYLINES

• West Virginia Wesleyan enters Wednesday's first round match-up of the MEC Tournament with a record of 9-16 (6-14 MEC) following a 71-61 win at Davis & Elkins in the regular season finale.
• The Bobcats finished the regular season in a tie for eighth place in the league standings with West Liberty and Notre Dame, and they earned the No. 9 seed in the conference tournament via the tiebreaker.
• With the release of the all-conference teams and awards, Sydney Baird was named MEC Freshman of the Year and All-MEC Honorable Mention while Emma Witt earned All-MEC Second Team.
• Through 25 games WVWC is averaging 66.9 points, 34.0 rebounds, 15.8 assists, 7.9 steals, and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting the ball 42.5 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from 3-point range, and 74.9 percent from the free throw line.
• The duo of Emma Witt and Sydney Baird are the only Bobcats to average double figures in scoring with 14.1 and 13.0 points per game. Baird ranks ninth in the MEC in scoring. The pair has six games of 20 or more points apiece.
• Baird is the top scoring threat from beyond the arc for Wesleyan, averaging 2.04 3-pointers per game which ranks eighth in the league while shooting 51-of-115 for 44.3 percent from beyond the arc. Shelby Genes, who is 37-of-124 for 29.8 percent, is another player to watch from deep.
• Baird leads the league in free throw percentage, knocking down 74-of-80 shots from the charity stripe for 92.5 percent on the season. Witt also ranks sixth in the league and is 74-of-95 for 77.9 percent from the free throw line.
• Desiree Roy leads the Bobcats on the glass, ranking seventh in the conference with 7.0 rebounds per game and is ninth with 2.7 offensive rebounds per game. With seven 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 tenth in the MEC. In 12 games this season she has recorded four or more assists.
• Baird and Genes lead West Virginia Wesleyan with 1.4 steals per game apiece. The pair has collected 11 games of two or more steals apiece.
• Roy is among the top rim protectors in the conference, ranking tenth in the MEC with 0.80 blocks per game. In three 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 17-58 during his time with the Bobcats.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty holds a 44-17 lead in the all-time series and has won 20 of the last 22 meetings dating back to 2012-13.
• The Hilltoppers saw a ten game win streak against the Bobcats come to an end as WVWC earned an 87-81 win in overtime on February 10, 2024, inside the Rockefeller Center in Buckhannon, West Virginia.
• Karly McCutcheon scored a team-high 25 points in the game while knocking down 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Jenna Riccardo added 21 points while grabbing 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.