By Kendrick Jackson, Contributing Writer
The Lady Toppers, 13-7, begin a three-game road trip after defeating Fairmont State 75-65. It was another big scoring night for the WLU senior forward Marissa Brown. In 40 minutes, Brown scored a game-high 39 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, her twelfth double-double this season.
Their first matchup on the road trip comes Thursday at UVa-Wise, 9-11. The Black and Gold, will look to continue their four-game winning streak with a win against the Cavaliers. West Liberty took the first game, 78-73, going on a 12-5 run to close out the fourth quarter.
UVa-Wise sophomore forward Ada Stanley will definitely be on the scouting report for the Lady Toppers. Stanley scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Cavaliers in 27 minutes off the bench.
Following their matchup with UVa-Wise, the Lady Toppers will travel to Athens, W.Va. to take on Concord University. The Mountain Lions, 16-4, sit third in the Mountain East Conference. West Liberty took a loss in the first matchup against Concord this season despite Brown dropping 41 points. WLU junior guard Morgan Brunner followed up with 17 points and five three-point field-goals.
Concord junior forward Madison May lead her team to victory in an unorthodox fashion. 17 of her 29 points came from the foul line. Mountain Lion sophomore forward Riley Fitzwater added 10 points and 17 rebounds, grabbing her 500th career rebound in the process.
West Liberty’s men’s basketball will be coming along for the ride as well as they embark on a three-game road trip. WLU, 17-2, heads to Wise, Virginia following a 96-85 win against Fairmont State. Topper guard Dalton Bolon led all scorers with 31 points, including seven three-point field-goals. The Hilltoppers took control of first place in the conference following the victory.
UVa-Wise, 6-13, sits towards the bottom of the MEC. In the matchup against the Black and Gold, six Cavalier players scored in double figures. However, this wouldn’t be enough as West Liberty took the first game 108-93. Redshirt freshman Briggs Parris led all Cavaliers with 23 points. Concord University will look to avenge their 108-107 double-overtime loss to the Hilltoppers in their first matchup this season. Junior guard Jair Rodgers missed the potential game-winning shot for the Mountain Lions after dropping 15 points in the game.
These teams just faced off against each other a few weeks ago, so there will be a lot on the line here with revenge being a big factor. The Mountain Lions have a player on their mens team that scored 65 points in a single game. Tommy Bolte was later named Mountain East Conference Player of the Week. He will need to be stopped if the Hilltoppers want to come away with a victory in this one.
WLU is currently on a ten-game winning streak and they don’t look to be slowing down anytime soon with the MEC Tournament less than a month away. In his sophomore campaign, Bolon has continued to improve posting double figures for points in all but three games.
Tip-off for the women’s and men’s games against Concord University begins at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., respectively. Tune in to WLUTV-14 for live streams of the away games. And be sure to pick up your copy of the Trumpet every Thursday.
Photo Credit: Hilltoppersports.com
