By Rich Stevens for MountainEast.org
Final Stats
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The stars aligned for the Wheeling Jesuit women’s basketball team, but the Cardinals still needed divine intervention to survive a West Liberty rally and win the Mountain East Conference tournament championship.
Senior Jaila Bryant made two free throws with 5.2 seconds left to answer her missed layup as the Cardinals came away with a 70-66 victory over the rival Hilltoppers
on Sunday afternoon at the Charleston Civic Center.
The Cardinals (26-5) could hardly risk a loss at No. 7 in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region, in which the top eight teams play beyond the league tournament. The title guarantees the Cardinals will be there.
“I asked them what defense they wanted to play and I don’t think West Lib thought we’d come out in a man,” said Wheeling Jesuit coach Debbie Buff, whose team was swept by the Hilltoppers during the regular season by a combined 15 points. “I just thought we were really locked in.”
The wild meeting of rivals a mere 10 miles apart in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle saw three West Liberty players foul out and three with four each when the buzzer sounded.
Among those was guard Liz Flowers, whose 34-point, eight-rebound performance in the semifinals kept the top-seeded Hilltoppers (27-4) alive for the title game.
The former Williamstown High School star averaged 33.4 minutes this season, but played just 27
on Sunday before being disqualified on fouls with
5:55 left. League player of the year Kierra Simpson averaged 28.4 and played 35, but left 28 seconds after Flowers. Simpson never got into a rhythm with seven points (half her average) and eight rebounds (five below average). Guard Emily Bucon also fouled out.
“That’s one of the things we wanted to do the last two games (against West Liberty), try to attack (Flowers) early,” said Bryant who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player by a vote of the tournament media.
“Coaches kept telling me to drive it, drive it and we kept driving it and got some fouls called. Liz got fouls, Kiki
got fouls … we knew they didn’t go deep into their bench.”
Despite being shorthanded throughout the game because of ongoing foul issues, West Liberty climbed back from a 12-point deficit (56-44) with
5:27 remaining.
West Liberty’s Jasmin Kiley finished with 15 points (almost 10 over her average) behind four 3-pointers, three of which came in the second half.
Kiley added a three-point play with 13.9 seconds left to cut the advantage to two. Following a West Liberty timeout, Bryant missed a layup and was tied up on the rebound, with the possession arrow pointing to Wheeling Jesuit.
Bryant was fouled and completed a 21-point game with two free throws.
Guard Kailee Howe had 22 points to lead West Liberty as one of two starters who finished the game – freshman Johnie Olkosky was the other. She also was 10-10 from the foul line, but had eight of the Hilltoppers’ 21 turnovers – seven more than the victors.
“The kids played fine,” said West Liberty coach Lynn Ullom, the MEC coach of the year. “I’ll take 100 percent responsibility for the loss. We were outcoached from the beginning of the game to the end. We were never in it.”
Bucon had 11 points for West Liberty.
Guard Mariah Callen had 16 points and five steals, Jaana Motton finished with 14 points and nine rebounds while carrying the responsibility of guarding Simpson, and Kylie Frizell had 10 points, eight of which came from the foul line.
Despite West Liberty falling short, the Hilltoppers will join Wheeling Jesuit in the Atlantic Region tournament, which will have its pairings revealed
on Sunday night.
MEC All-Tournament Team & Tournament Awards
Amanda Ruffner (Fairmont State)
Martha Nagbe (Notre Dame)
Liz Flowers (West Liberty)
Kailee Howe (West Liberty)
Kierra Simpson (West Liberty)
Mariah Callen (Wheeling Jesuit)
Jaana Motton (Wheeling Jesuit)
MVP -- Jaila Bryant (Wheeling Jesuit)
Leading Scorer: Liz Flowers (23 ppg/3 games)
Sportsmanship Award: Martha Nagbe (Notre Dame)
Commissioner's Heart and Hustle: Emily Bucon (West Liberty)