WEST LIBERTY, W. Va. – Urbana University fell, 94-68, against 16th-ranked West Liberty Thursday night in Mountain East Conference women’s basketball.
The Blue Knights slide to 11-14 overall and 10-11 in the league, while dropping a spot in the MEC standings. UU is now tied for sixth with West Virginia State heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale. The Blue Knights are among four teams jockeying for a first-round home game in next week’s postseason tournament.
In the late game Thursday night, the UU men lost, 121-76.
Kennedy Boggs led the Blue Knight women with 22 points and reached another milestone by surpassing 1,200 career points in the first half. The senior point guard needs only three points on Saturday to take over 10th place on UU’s all-time scoring chart.
Fellow senior Tori Purk reached double digits with 12 points and secured a team-high five rebounds. Forward Jazmyn Haley chipped in with nine points, while three others added six.
UU shot 42 percent overall and was held to a season-low two made 3-pointers.
Meanwhile, WLU knocked down 11 treys and shot 49 percent overall, while outrebounding UU by a 45-31 margin.
The Blue Knights dug themselves a hole early on with poor shooting and turnovers. UU missed its first seven shots and went 3 of 12 from the field over the opening 10 minutes. Additionally, five quick turnovers at the start of the contest opened the door for the Hilltoppers, who went ahead 27-9 at the end of the first.
However, UU got back in it after storming back with a rapid 15-4 run that spanned three minutes. Boggs led the charge with eight points and dished an assist to Megan Beachy, who knocked down her first three to trim the deficit to 31-24.
The Hilltoppers were forced to call timeout with 6:53 left in the second quarter, and then following a WLU bucket after the stoppage, Beachy drained another three to make it 33-27.
Purk’s putback at the 3:55 mark cut the lead back down to six at 37-31, but the Blue Knights were unable to climb back.
UU eventually went down 15 at halftime and never got back within single digits.
WLU (24-3, 19-2) was paced by Liz Flowers who scored a game-high 32 points.
UU wraps up the regular season at home Saturday against Notre Dame College. The 2 p.m. game has been dubbed ‘White Out’ and Senior Day.
