Final Stats
Postgame: UVa-Wise | West Liberty
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – It took West Liberty an extra 10 minutes but the top-seeded Hilltoppers advanced to Saturday's semifinal round of the Mountain East Conference Basketball Tournament by virtue of a hard-fought 73-68 double overtime victory in the quarterfinals over ninth-seeded UVa.-Wise here at the Charleston Civic Center Thursday evening.
The victory improved West Liberty to 21-8 and puts them in the tournament semifinals Saturday at noon for the second straight year.
“I'll give our kids credit because they understand, like we all do, that tonight we did not bring our 'A' game,” said veteran West Liberty coach Lynn Ullom. “That happens. We're all victims of that at times. We just did not play well tonight, but like I told them as we left the locker room we made just enough plays and the most important thing is we're still alive.
“My heart goes out to UVa-Wise. We've played three games against them and they could've beaten us in all three. That team won't quit. They try unbelievably hard, but at the end of the day we made plays when we absolutely had to make them tonight and for that I'll give my team credit.”
The contest was close throughout just like the two regular-season meetings between the teams which were decided by six points and three points. Thursday neither team led by more than five points at any juncture of the game.
“We played our guts out tonight,” said Cavaliers' coach Kristin Kunzman. “We've played them close three times. We lost by a couple of buckets at our place, by three up there and then almost had them in double overtime in the conference tournament. We played really, really hard and so did they.
“They're a phenomenal team. They've got depth, great shooters and (Kailee) Howe who I think is one of the best guards in the league. One thing I think which hurt us is we gave them too many second chances on offense tonight.”
A Hillary Southworth free throw with 1:27 left in regulation knotted the score at 56. Both teams then had opportunities to win the contest, but neither could take advantage of them.
In the first overtime the Cavaliers' Blair Harding drained a 3-pointer with 10.5 seconds left to give her team a two-point lead, but on the other end Howe got a scoop shot to fall with 3.8 seconds left to tie it at 64. Howe then stole the inbounds pass and launched a desperation 3-pointer for the win at the buzzer that wasn't close.
In the second overtime an eight-foot jumper by Howe gave West Liberty the lead for good at 66-64 with 3:50 to play. Trailing 71-68 in the final 30 seconds the Cavaliers' Harding got two good looks at potential game-tying 3-pointers but neither would fall and Southworth sealed the 73-68 victory for the Hilltoppers with a pair of free throws with 3.3 seconds left.
“Like coach Ullom said today was not one of our better games defensively or offensively,” said West Liberty junior guard Liz Flowers, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. “There at the end we came together and got some huge plays from both Kailee Howe and Kierra Simpson. It wasn't pretty, but we got it to overtime and then to double overtime and we won it so we're happy.”
Southworth, a senior guard, led West Liberty with 17 points, 10 of which came after halftime. Simpson, a junior forward, finished with her 10thdouble-double outing of the season. She scored 15 points and grabbed 11 boards. Eleven of her points came in the final 6:49 of regulation and in the overtime periods. Howe, a junior point guard, chipped in 12 points, eight of which came in the two overtimes. She, however, also suffered 12 turnovers.
Wise got 17 points and eight rebounds from sophomore point guard Taylor Sandidge. She scored eight of the Cavaliers' 12 points in the two overtime periods
“It was frustrating for us at the end of the game because we did have chances to put them away and we didn't,” said Sandidge. “One the positive side, though, I think we sent a message with our play that as a team we're never going to quit.”
The Cavaliers, who finished the season with a 10-20 record, also got 16 points and seven rebounds from sophomore center Kayla Carey and 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists from Harding, a junior guard.