By Rich Stevens for MountainEast.org
#1 West Liberty 53, #5 Fairmont State 40 | Final Stats

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The development of West Liberty University guard Liz Flowers has been gradual, although increasingly evident.

On a team chock full of stars, she has become the player teams have opted to contain and that’s not always enough.

Such was the case during Saturday’s Mountain East Conference tournament semifinal, where the former Williamstown High School star had 34 points to add to her growing career points total in the Hilltoppers’ 53-40 victory over the Falcons (20-11).

West Liberty (27-3), the No. 17 team in the USA Today NCAA Division II Poll and second-place team in the Atlantic Region, was dominant in every area except the score. The Hilltoppers play for the MEC tourney title against the winner of the Notre Dame-Wheeling Jesuit semifinal at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

“She’s kind of a freak of nature athletically,” Ullom said of Flowers, who has 2,035 career points and sits behind only Tori Hansen (2,300) and Melissa Hammond (2,015) in the program’s history. “She has a great combination of speed and power. She doesn’t get knocked off her drive. And, she made 10 3-pointers her freshman season.”

That number stands out more when you consider that she had 60 as a sophomore, 102 as a junior and is up to 96 so far this season. Her well-rounded game included 14 3-point attempts on Saturday, but multiple drives.

“She took it right at us,” said Fairmont State senior and Akron University transfer Katie Nunan. “She came ready to play. We were in a zone and we let her drive right through us.”

Fairmont State offered resistance on defense, holding West Liberty to more than 27 points below its average. The Hilltoppers matched the effort as the Falcons scored the fewest points they have in a game this season.

The Falcons had no other double-figure scorers and junior Emily Puskarich, who averaged 11.9 points entering the tournament, was scoreless.

Kierra “Kiki” Simpson, second in Division II in rebounds and blocks, had 16 boards and six blocked shots. Nunan’s 16 points led Fairmont, while Amanda Ruffner added 12 and Deidra Combs added 10.
 


By Duane Cochran for MountainEast.org
#2 Wheeling Jesuit 79, #3 Notre Dame 66 | Final Stats

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Wheeling Jesuit head coach Debbie Buff wanted her second-seeded Cardinals to enjoy the moment Saturday afternoon here at the Charleston Civic Center against third-seeded Notre Dame in the semifinals of the Mountain East Conference Basketball Tournament.

WJU did that and a whole lot more as it raced to a 30-11 lead 10 minutes into the game and held off numerous rallies by the Falcons to record a 79-66 victory and earn a berth in Sunday's 1 p.m. championship game against top-seeded West Liberty (27-3).

The victory improved Wheeling Jesuit to 25-5, while Notre Dame ended the season at 20-10.

“Today we talked a lot with our players about enjoying the moment and having fun,” Buff said. “That was our approach all day. We got some shots up today, got off to a great start, had five people in double figures in scoring and shared the ball.

“We played with a lot of poise and I thought that really showed in our game. We threw a hard punch right there at the beginning, but we knew it wasn't over. We knew they'd punch back and they did. We talked at halftime about being in good shape. I thought we were playing well and we knew we had 20 more minutes to play to get to the finals and we got it done. We're going to enjoy this, watch our men win tonight and then get ready for West Liberty.”

The Hilltoppers swept the regular-season series with the Cardinals winning 69-64 on Jan. 21 and 60-50 on Feb. 27.

Despite trailing by 19 Saturday after the first 10 minutes and by as many as 21 early in the second quarter Notre Dame didn't panic. Instead, the Falcons regrouped and put together a 22-2 run itself to pull back into contention at 34-33 with 2:40 to play in the opening half. WJU, though, ended the first half on a 6-0 spurt to take a 40-33 lead at the break.

“There were big differences between quarters today and in the quarters where we felt like we really needed to establish the tone, the first and the third quarters, we didn't exactly do that and we found ourselves in holes through the game,” NDC coach Katie Hine said. “That's tough to look at. Against Urbana we prided ourselves on starting fast, taking control of the game and going at them. Today we kind of put the car in reverse in those terms for the first part of the game.”

In the third quarter Wheeling senior guard Jaila Bryant got on track and scored seven of her team-high 20 points to help the Cardinals extend the lead back to 61-41. Again, though, Notre Dame refused to fold. The Falcons battled back to within seven in the fourth quarter but couldn't get any closer as Wheeling made 12-of-16 free throws in the final 1:24 to help hold them off.

“It was tough having to battle back all day, but with the group of girls we have we just know we're never going to give up no matter what,” NDC standout senior guard Martha Nagbe said. “I'm proud that we never hung our heads today and played through it.”

Point guard Mariah Callen had 18 points, a game-high six steals and four assists for Wheeling, while forward Chenelle Moore turned in a double-double performance finishing with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. WJU also got 11 points from Kylie Fizell, 10 points from Taylor Lubinsky and eight points and nine rebounds from Jaana Motton.

NDC was led by Kim Cook's 14 points. Kelsey Miller added 12 and Nagbe finished with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds and six assists.