West Liberty, W. Va – Charleston would face the West Liberty Hilltoppers for their second regular season matchup of the year on Saturday. The Golden Eagles were able to get the better of West Liberty in their previous matchup at home in a 94-60 stunning blowout back in December, but the Hilltoppers sought vengeance in the Academic Sports & Recreating Complex in the Northern Panhandle. 
 
The Basics
Location: ASR Complex
Score: UC 81, WLU 67
Records: UC 12-8 (8-5 MEC), WLU 7-13 (4-8 MEC)
 
How it Happened
The first quarter would feature both sides taking turns going on spurts of high-quality basketball. The Hilltoppers would start incredibly fast in their home arena, exploding out of the gate with a 13-2 run in the opening stages of the first quarter. Charleston would put themselves back in the game with a 10-0 run, with Nia Vanzant's successful trip to the line putting Charleston within one of the home team. With their 70% shooting percentage, the Hilltoppers would go into the second quarter with a 18-15 advantage. Charleston would pick up their conversion rate from the floor to 48% and put up 22 total points in the quarter, while the Hilltoppers continued to light up the scoreboard on the other end of the court. The Golden Eagles would take their first lead of the game at the 7:00 mark after Taylor Austin's fastbreak layup for the 25-23 lead. The teams would go back-and-forth for the remainder of the quarter, until Kiley Graham would knot the game up with a layup from underneath. Charleston and West Liberty would head into the locker room with the game even square at 37-37. 
 
Despite the inability to hit shots from beyond the arc in the contest, the Golden Eagles would continue to grow their shooting percentage within the perimeter. Their defense limited the Hilltoppers to just 13 points in the quarter while they would take the lead with 20 points on the other end. Charleston ended the third period on a 12-5 run that would give them a seven-point lead heading into the final quarter of play. The Hilltoppers would put more points up in the fourth quarter, but the Golden Eagles would match and raise their third quarter points with 24 more on the board. In their dominant fourth quarter, they would shoot 67% from the field (8-12) and held West Liberty to just five made shots. Taylor Austin would have the final laugh of the game with her free throw in the dying stages that would give Charleston the 81-67 victory on the road. 
 
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will be back on the road this Wednesday as they head up to Fairmont, WV to face the Fighting Falcons of Fairmont State in the Joe Retton Arena on February 7^th at 5:30 PM.