Behind 30 points from freshman Laura Szorenyi, the West Virginia State women's basketball team upset No. 17 West Liberty 99-90 Saturday at the Walker Convocation Center.
The Yellow Jackets (10-10, 7-7 Mountain East Conference) held the Hilltoppers (17-3, 12-2) to just 37.8 percent shooting from the floor to hand West Liberty its second loss in three games. Szorenyi did most of her damage driving to the basket, drawing several fouls on the way. She finished the game making 16 of 17 free throws.
"Laura just carried us for about 7 minutes," WVSU coach David Smith said. "They couldn't stop her. And the way the game is supposed to be called, you put a hand on somebody or a forearm or a touch, the whistle blows. So, go [to the basket]."
WVSU built as much as a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter before West Liberty started a furious rally. State pulled ahead 93-81 on a Deyhanna Styles layup with 1:50 left in the game.
Yet the Hilltoppers went on a 9-0 run over the next 64 seconds. Kierra Simpson scored five of those nine points for West Liberty, which took advantage of three Yellow Jackets turnovers in that span. Johnie Olkosky's layup with 46 seconds left cut the State lead to 93-90.
However, the Yellow Jackets capitalized on three West Liberty turnovers in the final 46 seconds. State went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line and iced the game when Alexus Hobbs stole the ball from West Liberty's Janay Bottoms and coasted in for a layup.
"That's the thing about underdogs," Smith said. "The longer they stay in the game, the more they start believing they can win it."
The Yellow Jackets made 35 of 65 shots from the floor (53.8 percent) and outrebounded the Hilltoppers 49-34. Styles added 18 points for West Virginia State, while Trina Current and Aurreshae Hines each scored 16. Liz Flowers led West Liberty with 26 points, but committed six of the Hilltoppers' 16 turnovers.
Baylor 71, West Virginia 61: Alexis Jones scored 20 points, freshman Beatrice Mompremier had 16 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 4 Baylor beat host No. 24 West Virginia.
Freshman Kalani Brown added 11 points and Nina Davis scored 10 for Baylor (21-1 overall, 8-1 Big 12), which swept the regular-season series with the Mountaineers (16-6, 5-4).
In their Jan. 12 meeting in Waco, Texas, Baylor needed an 11-4 run to finish the game and escape with a 69-64 win.
The Bears didn't need any late heroics this time. Baylor led the entire second half to win its eighth straight.
Davis grabbed a rebound and put in a layup at the third-quarter buzzer to put Baylor ahead 54-47.
West Virginia went four minutes without a point, and Mompremier's layup midway through the fourth put Baylor ahead 61-53.
The Mountaineers got no closer than seven the rest of the game.
Tynice Martin scored 17 points and Jessica Morton and Bria Holmes had 11 apiece for West Virginia.
Marshall 64, Alabama-Birmingham 61: Lea Scott tied her career high with 26 points and hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to push visiting Marshall to a win.
Scott added eight rebounds and six assists with Logan Fraley and Norrisha Victrum each adding nine points for the Thundering Herd (14-6 overall, 4-5 Conference USA). Marshall registered assists on 16 of its 20 baskets.
Brittany Winborne was the lone double-digit scorer for UAB (10-10, 3-6) with 24 points. She also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Wheeling Jesuit 75, Charleston 64: Jaila Bryant scored 21 points and pulled down five rebounds for the host Cardinals, who got off to a 21-12 lead and held on for the win. Mariah Callen and Jaana Motton each scored 13 points for the Cardinals (17-3, 12-2), who hit 17 of 19 free throws and forced 22 Charleston turnovers.
Mya Walker led all scorers with 22 points for the Golden Eagles (7-13, 5-9) with Chyress Lockhart adding 15 points and Kiara Johnson 13.
Ohio Christian 71, WVU Tech 63: Ohio Christian University (12-8 overall, 5-4 Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) used a balanced scoring attack that featured five double-digit scorers to down WVU Tech in Montgomery.
Beyonia Hearn paced the Trailblazers with 14 points while Shawntell Parsons and Paige Lewis added 13 points apiece. Erinn Bailey's 11 points and Deshay Thomas' 10 rounded out the double-digit scorers. For Tech (8-12, 3-6), Courtney Fisher netted 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Savannah Shamblin added 16 points.
Ohio Christian 99, WVU Tech 73: Ohio Christian hit 19 of 29 3-pointers and Marquis Jackson and Nic Baker each went 7 for 10 from beyond the 3-point arc for the Trailblazers, who built up a 54-33 halftime lead and rolled to a win in Montgomery. Jackson finished with a game-best 23 points with Baker adding 21. Conor Mabry hit 3 of 4 3-pointers and scored 20 points off the bench for Ohio Christian (16-6 overall, 6-2 KIAC).
Ryan Atkins led the way for Tech (13-9, 5-4) with 21 points and Eddie Gordon and Patrick Gnagbo each scored 13.
OCU outrebounded Tech 34-20 and had 27 assists against just six turnovers.
Wheeling Jesuit 79, Charleston 66: Host Wheeling Jesuit hit 25 of 32 foul shots and held a 37-26 rebounding advantage as it held off Charleston. Pat Moseh led the No. 5 Cardinals (20-1, 13-1 MEC) with 21 points with Haywood Highsmith adding 16 points and 11 rebounds and Eric Siefert 15 points and nine boards.
The Golden Eagles (11-10, 8-7) were owere led by Jevonte Hughes, who finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. Tino diTrapano scored 16 points and dished out a game-best six assists for UC with Aleksander Kesic scoring 12 points.
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Marshall Track: The Thundering Herd finished sixth in the Marshall Invitational Saturday at Jeff Small Track in the Chris Cline Athletic Complex. MU freshman Elisabeth Paulina broke the school record in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.78, which topped the previous mark held by Yvonne Ferguson since 2004.
The Herd 4x100-meter relay team also finished first with Paulina, Breanna Hargrove, Shyra Molton and Shanice Johnson finishing in 3:49.61.