FAIRBANKS, Aka. – The West Liberty University women’s basketball team foiled a comeback by the University of Alaska with a late run Friday night and pulled away to an 80-69 victory on the second night of the North Star Invitational.
The Hilltoppers (4-2) led by as many as 17 points midway through the second half but turnovers and missed free throws allowed the host squad to mount a charge.
Alaska got the margin down to 71-68 when 6-2 center Nicole Bozek followed in her own miss with 2:37 remaining but that’s as close as the Nanooks (3-4) would get.
The West Liberty defense forced a turnover and Jenn Cessna splashed home a pair of foul tosses to stop the bleeding with 2:29 to go.
Emily Blevins followed with back-to-back hoops and Kayla Ayers restored the double-digit margin, 79-68, with two more foul tosses at the 42-second mark to put the game on ice.
Hillary Southworth was the leading scorer for the Hilltoppers with 19 points while Ayers added 16 points and 8 rebounds. Blevins chipped in with a dozen markers while freshman Bri Kamarec came off the bench with a career-high 11 points. Cessna weighed in with 8 points on 8-for-8 shooting from the charity stripe.
Bozek led Alaska with a career-high 28 points and a game-high 9 rebounds but was the only double-figure scorer for the hosts.
West Liberty closes out the North Star Invitational with a Saturday night game against Western State (Colo.). Tipoff is set for 9:15 p.m. (EST) in the Patty Center.
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