Final Stats
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Top-seeded West Liberty and fourth-seeded Wheeling Jesuit split their regular-season meetings.
Thus, it was only fitting that when the two teams squared off Saturday in the semifinals of the Mountain East Conference Basketball Tournament at the Charleston Civic Center that it took overtime to determine a winner.
In the end, West Liberty made one more play than Wheeling and emerged with a thrilling 70-68 victory earning the Hilltoppers the right to advance toSunday's title game at 1 p.m.
“Give all of the credit to the kids,” said West Liberty coach Lynn Ullom, whose team improved to 22-8 with the victory. “We had a lead, we lost a lead, we faced adversity and struggled at the end of regulation. We could've hung our heads and quit, but we didn't. We found a way to make enough plays at the end of the game to advance.
“I have to give Wheeling Jesuit credit too. They're unbelievably well coached, they're disciplined and they try really, really hard.”
West Liberty jumped on WJU early Saturday draining four of its first five 3-point field goals attempts and opening a 12-0 advantage less than three minutes into the game. For the rest of the contest Wheeling had to fight its way back. The Cardinals finally pulled even with the Hilltoppers when guard Jaila Bryant hit a contested 12-foot jumper from the wing to knot the score at 59 with 24.9 seconds left in regulation.
On the last possession of regulation West Liberty spread the floor and let point guard Kailee Howe drive the lane and get off an eight-foot jumper which didn't fall and Wheeling's Jaana Motton cleared the rebound as time expired. Motton finished with 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds for the Cardinals. It was her fifth double-double performance of the season.
In overtime West Liberty senior guard Hillary Southworth set the tone both early and late for her team. She hit a driving layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play seven seconds into the extra five minutes.
“Being a senior you kind of see that flash of your career ending and think it all could end right now if you don't do something,” said Southworth, who led West Liberty with 18 points. “I haven't been one to drive to the basket a lot this season. I've had three knee injuries and they've all been a result of driving to the rim, so I've been kind of hesitant to do that. But, at that point you just have to do what you have to do. I wasn't going to lose to Wheeling Jesuit. It was all or nothing.”
Later, clinging to a one-point 67-66 lead, West Liberty's Kierra Simpson made a huge play for her team when, from behind, she blocked what appeared to be an open layup attempt by Bryant with 29 seconds remaining and then saved the rebound in to a teammate who got the ball to Howe who found Southworth wide open for a layup to make it 69-66 with 20 seconds to play.
At the other end Bryant, who led all scorers with 22 points, hit a driving layup to make it 69-68 with 8.9 seconds left. West Liberty then did a good job of keeping the ball away from Wheeling which was finally able to foul Southworth with just 3.8 seconds remaining. She made one of two free throws setting the stage for Bryant to get a decent look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer that hit the backboard and bounded off as time expired.
“I knew they were going to try to do something to defend me,” said Bryant, who also grabbed eight rebounds and recorded five steals in the loss. “They ended up coming out and trapping me so I knew in that amount of time that I couldn't get to the rim. I knew I was going to have to get a shot up from three. I got it there. It just didn't go in.”
Wheeling, which also got 12 points and seven rebounds from Kylie Frizell, finished its season with a 19-9 record. The Cardinals won 11 of their last 15 games.
“The 19 wins is the most we've had in 10 years and we had a shot today to win it at the end,” said Wheeling coach Debbie Buff, who just completed her fourth season at the school. “This is emotional for me. I really wanted it for these girls. If Jaila makes that shot at the end we win, but if Jaila didn't do what she did the whole game for us we never would've been in the position that we were to get the win. I'm really, really proud of this team. Our effort was there from start to finish.
“West Liberty is an excellent team. They have a lot of seniors and veterans who have been in these positions in the past. We're young. We'll be back next year.”
The Hilltoppers, who won for the 10th time in 11 games, also got 15 points from Liz Flowers and 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists from Howe. Simpson finished with just seven points, but pulled down a team-high six rebounds and blocked a game-high five shots.