By Kendrick Jackson, Advertising Manager
West Liberty’s women’s basketball team will travel to Fairmont, W.Va. on Sunday for its final matchup against the Lady Fighting Falcons at 2:30 p.m. WLU took the first matchup, and our Lady Toppers will look to make it a sweep with a victory on the road.
Head coach Kyle Cooper and his Lady Toppers come into the weekend sitting in the middle of the Mountain East Conference (MEC). With only one away game win for the season, our Lady Toppers are still searching for their stride on the road.
West Liberty defeated Fairmont State 87-79 in their first matchup of the season, with huge performances coming from Brandi Beader, Marissa Brown, and McKenna Shives. Shives scored 27 points, and Beader and Brown both secured a double-double.
Brown is almost averaging a double-double for the season. As of Jan. 23, Brown leads WLU with 21.9 points-per-game and 9.8 rebounds-per-game. Shives and Beader are averaging 13.6 and 11.4 PPG, second and third on the team, respectively.
Shifting to Fairmont State, this is not the same team from a year ago. Last season, the Lady Fighting Falcons finished 19-12 and advanced all the way to the MEC Championship game before falling to the eventual MEC champion Wheeling Jesuit.
Fairmont State enters Sunday sitting at the bottom of the conference. However, the Lady Fighting Falcons have been very good on their homecourt with a 7-3 home record. Sunday begins a four-game homestand for Fairmont State.
During the first contest against West Liberty, Fairmont State true freshman Sierra Kotchman scored a career-high 32 points in 38 minutes of playing time. Brooke Kurucz added 18 points, and Kelli Jo Harrison pulled out a double-double, grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds.
As of Jan. 23, Kotchman leads Fairmont State in free-throw percentage, three-point percentage, and scoring, averaging 19.6 PPG for the season. Kurucz is second on the team in scoring with 14.6 PPG, while Harrison has flirted with a double-double, averaging 9.9 PPG and 9.8 RPG.
After Sunday’s matchup, our Lady Toppers will return to the hilltop for a three-game homestand.
For more previews on Hilltopper basketball, please visit right here on the Trumpet Online and grab next week’s issue for a player profile.
Photo Credit: Hilltoppersports.com
