WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - - Kayla Carey scored 14 of her game-high 16 points in the second half to lead five UVa-Wise players in double figure scoring as the Cavaliers claimed their sixth consecutive win, 79-60 over West Liberty at the ASRC Saturday. The win keeps Kristin Kunzman's team in a first place tie at 8-1 atop the Mountain East Conference standings and sets up a battle of first place squads Monday when UVa-Wise visits Wheeling Jesuit.
UVa-Wise (13-4, 8-1 MEC) put the game out of reach in the third period. After only leading 42-38Â at intermission, the Cavs opened the second half on a 7-0 run to build the lead to 11 points.
Senior Kayla Carey was the spark during the run as the Knoxville, Tenn. native scored the first seven points of the half. Possibly even bigger, Carey drew the fourth foul on West Liberty post player Marissa Brown on a rebound put back.
West Liberty (4-11, 3-6 MEC) would fall behind by as many as 16 points in the period before a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from McKenna Shives sent the Hilltoppers to the fourth quarter trailing 62-48.
It would be as close as Lynn Ullom's club would get as the visitors pushed the margin to 24 at 75-51 with 3:33 to play on a free throw from senior Makenzie Cluesman.
Cluesman scored eight of her 11 points, joining Carey's 14 second half points the duo outscored West Liberty 25-22 in the final 20 minutes.
While Carey and Cluesman pushed UVa-Wise past the finish line, it was the play of sophomore Dakotah Turner and Allison Ball that helped the Cavs build the early lead.
Turner scored all of her career-high 10 points in the first half while Ball scored all of her 13 points in the opening 20 minutes.
In total, 11 UVa-Wise players cracked the scoring column as the team snapped a nine-game losing streak to West Liberty.
After allowing the 'Toppers to shoot 48.3 percent from the floor in the opening half, the Cavs locked down on defense after halftime. West Liberty made just eight of 32 shots in the final 20 minutes, including a 3-18 showing in the fourth period.
West Liberty's long range shooting also took a hit in the second half, the 'Toppers shot just 1-17 from distance in the final two quarters after making seven of 20 attempts in the opening half.
Rebounding was also a different story after intermission, West Liberty led the battle of the boards 16-15 at the break but lost the rebounding battle 42-33 at game's end.
Brown led West Liberty with 13 points in just 18 minutes of play, the sophomore forward fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Shives and Johnie Olkosky each added 11 in defeat.
Taylor Sandidge was the fifth UVa-Wise player to finish in double figure scoring as she posted 11 points. The senior guard added seven rebounds to tie Cluesman for game-high honors in the category.
Monday's game at Wheeling Jesuit will break a first place tie between the two schools. While the Cavs enter the game on a six-game winning streak, the Cardinals enter on a three-game winning streak. Like UVa-Wise, Wheeling Jesuit has yet to lose a home game this season.
Tip-off from Wheeling is set for 4 p.m. and fans can hear the action live on FM 92.1 WDIC or online at www.wdicradio.com
