FROSTBURG, Md. –  The Frostburg State Women's Basketball team came out with a 68-62 win against West Liberty on Wednesday night at their Pink Game, where the coaches and players wore pink in support of breast cancer awareness. 

The Hilltoppers got things started quickly with a three before netting a pair of freebies and a layup between sophomore Ayla Hileman and junior Jenna Muha jumpers to go up 7-4 in the first half of the opening quarter. A layup and a split trip to the line from Muha evened the score before both teams traded baskets, as redshirt sophomore Mandy Roman sank a layup and sophomore Laekyn Flinn netted a putback to give the Bobcats their first lead of the day at 11-9. With just over two minutes remaining, WLU regained the lead with a lay-in and a freebie before Flinn received a feed from junior Riley Nelson to net a basket before finding freshman Ella Sabatos in the lane, holding onto a 15-14 advantage. In the final 44 seconds, West Liberty sank back-to-back baskets while FSU had a pair of turnovers as the visitors took an 18-15 lead heading into the second frame.

Both teams sank layups to open the period, as Muha received a feed from Flinn, however West Liberty's defense kept the Bobcats off the board for the next three and a half minutes while netting twice themselves to increase their lead to 24-17. The drought was broken when Roman drove through the lane for a bucket, sophomore Jullie Spinelli landed a three, and Hileman made a mid-range jumper, but the Hilltoppers recovered with a deep make to stay up by six. After a WLU split trip put the lead at 31-24 with three minutes left, FSU clamped down defensively, limiting them to just one basket through the remainder of the half. Spinelli drove the offense with four in a row through a pull-up jumper and two at the line, then Muha hit from mid-range to pull within three. On Frostburg's final offensive possession, senior Caitlyn Sullivan got fouled, making one of her two shots, while the Bobcat defense didn't allow West Liberty to get their final shot off, getting to the break trailing just 33-31.

Frostburg came out hot in the third quarter, as within the first three minutes, a Muha steal led to Spinelli netting a corner three, then the former converted a pair from the charity stripe and Hileman sank a triple, putting the Bobcats ahead 39-35. Each side then went back-and-forth through a fast-paced 90 seconds, with WLU driving in for four consecutive layups, whlie Spinelli and Hileman responded with a pair of their own, however the game remained tied at 43-43. Muha then made a pair of big plays at each end of the floor, hitting a jump shot before coming up with a block, then grabbing a rebound from a Hilltopper miss that led to Hileman draining from behind the arc to go back up by five. Neither side could find the bottom of the net over the final three minutes, taking the game into the fourth with the Bobcats up 48-43.

Determined to keep their lead, Frostburg earned the first points of the final frame with layups from Hileman and freshman Zaria Gaskins, growing the advantage up to nine. It took WLU nearly three minutes to get on the board, getting a pair from the line before Muha landed back-to-back baskets on assists from Hileman and Spinelli to take the first double-digit lead for either side at 56-45. West Liberty tried to claw back into the game offensively, hitting a pair of threes, a layup, and a floater in the lane, but couldn't come up with stops defensively, as the Hileman-Muha combo kept working, with the former finding the latter for two more layups as well as a Muha putback to maintain a 62-55 lead. Muha continued her dominance late on, scoring FSU's final six points between a jumper, another easy bucket courtesy of Hileman, and a trip to the line. Spinelli helped ensure West Liberty wouldn't get much closer, as she swatted away a shot, with a late three-pointer cutting the deficit to six with 15 seconds to go, but the final would still be in favor of the Bobcats 68-62. 

Muha enjoyed a career day, putting up a personal best 29 points and a game-high 15 rebounds while also dominating defensively on four steals and three blocks. Hileman tallied 14 points as she and Gaskins each had four assists, while Spinelli hit for 12 points and seven boards. 

With the win, FSU improves to 11-12 as WLU falls to 7-16 on the year. The Bobcats hit the road to face Wheeling on Saturday, February 14, at 2 pm. For more information, please visit frostburgsports.com.