West Liberty, W. Va – On Saturday, the Golden Eagles took the trip up to the Northern Panhandle to face the West Liberty Hilltoppers for their second meeting of the season. Last time these two teams met, Charleston took care of business with a 78-58 victory over West Liberty, but this matchup would entail a different story as it took an extra period of overtime to come to an end. 
 
The Basics
Location: Academic Sports and Recreation Complex
Score: UC 77, WLU 87
Records: UC (17-5, 12-4 MEC), WLU (14-8, 12-4 MEC) 
 
How it Happened
In the first half, the Golden Eagles played lights out. After West Liberty opened up the scoring to take a 3-0 lead with a Corinne Thomas triple, Charleston would take the lead and hold onto it for the remainder of the half. They would go on to shoot 49% from the field in the first twenty minutes but just 30% from three-point territory. West Liberty found very little rhythm on the other end of the court, only putting up 31 total points to end the half converting on just 40% of their shots within the arc; however, they shot three-pointers exceptionally well as they knocked home 5-8 in the half. The Golden Eagles extended their lead to as much as 18 points in the second quarter, but they would have to settle for a 43-31 lead going into the locker room. 
 
Charleston maintained their lead in the third quarter, but the Hilltoppers would score three more points than the visiting squad to bring the lead back to single digits. The Golden Eagles shot consistently in the period with a 43% conversion rate from the field. West Liberty kicked things into high gear as they would improve their shooting percentage by nearly 12% from the second period; what's even more impressive is they put up more attempts than they did in the previous period. Despite being down by 18 points in the second quarter, West Liberty would find a way to tie the game up at 73-73 with just under a minute left to play. Neither team would find the go-ahead bucket and the game would head to an overtime period. 
 
The Hilltoppers continued their momentum into overtime and made more than half of their shots. West Liberty would go on to win 87-77 over the Golden Eagles in comeback fashion. The two squads move to 12-4 in conference play, tying the season series up at 1-1.  
 
Up Next
Charleston will be back on the road this Wednesday to face the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats in the Rockefeller Center on February 8^th at 5:30 PM.