WISE - - Kailee Howe's jump shot with 1:55 to play gave visiting West Liberty University a lead it would not relinquish as the Hilltoppers posted a 77-71 win over UVa-Wise at the Prior Center on Monday.

UVa-Wise (4-8, 3-3 MEC) jumped out to a 42-35 halftime lead behind a 56.7 percent shooting performance in the first 20 minutes.  The Cavaliers made three of six 3-point attempts in the half and received 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists from Kayla Carey.

West Liberty's (8-4, 5-1 MEC) Jenn Mohney kept her club in the game by canning five first half 3-pointers.  Mohney finished the first half with 16 points, the only Hilltopper to score off the bench in the first stanza.

A Blair Harding jumper with 12 minutes remaining gave UVa-Wise a 58-50 lead.  From there, West Liberty mounted its comeback.

The 'Toppers would go on a 7-0 run over a 4:16 stretch to cut the lead to one.  In the run, Howe and Kierra Simpson each scored in the paint before Howe found Jasmin Kiley for a 3-pointer to make the score 58-57 with 7:33 to play.

Back-to-back buckets by Kiley and Baylen Dyrlund gave West Liberty the lead at 61-59 with 5:49 to play in the contest. 

Taylor Sandidge split a pair of foul shots with 4:08 to play to tie the game at 64 before Howe's jumper gave West Liberty the lead for good.

Carey finished the game with a career-high 26 points while corralling 12 rebounds and handing out six assists.  Harding netted 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Sandidge added 10 points in defeat.

Howe scored a team-high 22 points for West Liberty while Mohney made six of 10 3-pointers en route to 21 points.  The 'Toppers salted the game away by making their final nine free throws to win their second consecutive Mountain East Conference contest.

UVa-Wise will be back in action Thursday at 5:30 pm when the team visits West Virginia State for a MEC battle.