FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- West Liberty held off a late surge by Fairmont State on Saturday afternoon at Joe Retton Arena to edge the Falcons, 77-74, in a Mountain East Conference showdown.

After trailing by as many as 15 at the 13:49 mark of the second half, Fairmont State fought its way back to grab a one-point lead, 71-70, with 4:56 to play. Fairmont State used a 16-2 run during that stretch to close the gap. Following a jumper by Deidra Combs to give the Falcons their first lead of the second half, WLU scored the next six points to grab a 77-72 lead with only 26 second remaining in the game. Hailey Garrett hit a pair of free throws late to make the final score 77-74 in favor of the Hilltoppers.

Fairmont State (13-3, 7-3 MEC) was led by Garrett with 25 points and 10 rebounds after going 10-of-18 from the floor. Hallie Gunnoe chipped in 19 points offensively for the Falcons while Emily Lohr also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.

West Liberty (11-5, 8-2 MEC) got 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists from Liz Flowers in the win. Hillary Southworth went 8-of-12 from the floor and chipped in 19 points while Kailee Howe recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists. Flowers and Southworth combined for 24 of West Liberty's first half points as the Hilltoppers jumped ahead 43-35 at the break. WLU hit five of its eight three-pointers in the opening half.

The 'Toppers outshot the Falcons by five percentage points (46%-41%) and knocked down eight three-pointers in the win, compared to just three made threes by FSU. West Liberty also held a 43-42 advantage on the glass and scored on seven of Fairmont State's 10 turnovers. FSU held a 40-36 margin scoring in the paint and got 16 points off the bench in the close loss, led by Amanda Ruffner with seven and Combs with six.

FSU will look to rebound on Thursday evening when Shepherd comes to town for a 5:30 p.m. tip at Joe Retton Arena.