Another Tingle Record as WLU Women Clip Cards
WHEELING, W.Va. – Audrey Tingle tied an NCAA Division II record with her seventh career double-double and the West Liberty University women locked up a 20-win season here Saturday with a convincing 82-46 victory at Wheeling in a mutual regular season finale.
It was the fourth straight win for Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (20-8, 15-7) and locked up a third-place finish in the MEC standings for the Black and Gold.
As the No. 3 seed in next week's MEC Tournament, West Liberty gets a first-round bye before playing No. 6 seed Fairmont State (15-12, 13-9 in Thursday's 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal at WesBanco Arena in downtown Wheeling.
Tingle had just set an NCAA Division II single-season record with her fifth triple-double of the year in Wednesday's win against Notre Dame (Ohio). Her remarkable season continued on Saturday as she had checked off all three triple-double boxes by the midway point of the third quarter. Playing sparingly the rest of the way, she finished with 12 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Her seventh career triple-double tied the NCAA Division II record set by Colorado Christian's Christina Whitelaw from 2011-14.
Tingle and the Hilltoppers put Saturday's game on ice in a hurry, roaring out of the blocks with an early blitz. A Tingle steal and runout layup produced the game's first double-digit lead, 12-2, as the game clock ticked past the 7-minute mark of the first quarter.
West Liberty cooled off a bit after that blistering start but the host Cardinals never heated up. Wheeling made just 2-of-16 shots from the floor in the opening quarter and trailed 35-17 at the half after shooting just 16 percent (6-of-37) over the first 20 minutes.
The Hilltoppers came out strong at the start of the second half, pushing the margin into the 30s midway through the period, and coasted the rest of the way.
Bailee Smith led all scorers for West Liberty with a game-high 20 points while Karly McCutcheon knocked down 5 3-point field goals to add 19 points. Arriana Manzay and Grace Faulk just missed double-doubles. Manzay finished with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots while Faulk contributed 8 points and 9 rebounds to the cause. Corinne Thomas had 9 points on a trio of 3-point bombs.
Wheeling (7-19, 7-15), which wound up shooting 21 percent (16-of-74) from the floor, got 12 points and 15 rebounds from Lauren Calhoun but Shamia Strayhorn was the only other WU player in double-figures with 10 points.
The Cardinals will be the No. 9 seed next week and will take on No. 8 seed Alderson Broaddus (13-13, 10-12) in Wednesday's 2:30 p.m. first-round matchup at WesBanco.