BUCKHANNON — The West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcat women remained atop the Mountain East Conference (MEC) standings with a perfect 3-0 record (6-1 overall) by defeating visiting West Liberty University (3-5, 1-1 MEC) Wednesday in the Rockefeller Center.
Wesleyan commandeered the flow of the game up until halfway through the second quarter when West Liberty mounted its first comeback, erasing a 12-point deficit with seven minutes remaining before the break to take its only lead of the game, 33-32, at the halftime buzzer.
For Wesleyan, junior forward Emma Witt pounded the paint through the first 20 minutes, scoring 25 of her 37 total points in the first half alone. Witt’s right-side drive and turn in the paint could not be stopped as she racked up 15-of-24 field goals for the game and a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line. Witt remains second in scoring in the MEC with an 18.7-point average.
Then in the third quarter, the Lady Bobcats exploded, hitting 10-of-20 from the field while holding the Hilltoppers to a paltry 2-of-13 to take a 55-42 lead into the final frame.
But it all came apart at the top of the fourth when the Lady Bobcats, up by 15, could not find the bottom of the net and the Hilltoppers dropped 13 unanswered points to come within a field goal with 5:33 remaining. For five minutes the game teetered on edge with the Bobcats expanding its lead to six before the Hilltoppers tied the game with 29 seconds left. A series of intentional fouls by the Hilltoppers placed Witt and Sydney Baird on the line and each helped seal the eventual six-point victory.
As the conference’s leading defensive team, Wesleyan outrebounded West Liberty 30-19 and the MEC’s sixth-best rebounder Desiree Roy added 12 more to her total while posting eight points.
Baird added 14 points and seven rebounds. Shelby Genes had seven points and two rebounds.
For the Hilltoppers, Jenna Riccardo led the way with 15 points and three rebounds while Karli Anker had 13 points and six rebounds.
Wesleyan travels to the conference’s second-best team, Wheeling University, on Saturday, Dec. 7 for a 2 p.m. tip.
