WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's basketball team pulled of an impressive 87-80 comeback victory on the road against West Liberty on Saturday night. Head Coach Charles Marshall recorded his 100th career win with the result.

West Virginia State improves to 3-6 overall, 2-4 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) with the win. Meanwhile, West Liberty drops to 5-5 on the season, 2-4 in the MEC with the loss.

Forward Chloe Cheresne was unstoppable in a 31-point, 13-rebound performance. Both were career-highs for the sophomore. Freshman guard Alexis Hall was next-in-line with 17 points, seven boards, and three blocks. Rounding out the top performers for West Virginia State was Charity Shears with 14 points and Sierra Womack with 12 rebounds.

The Yellow Jackets and Hilltoppers traded basket for basket in the first quarter. West Liberty pulled away in the last two-and-a-half minutes by going on a 12-4 run. That stretch of play gave WLU a five-point lead at the end of the opening period, 29-24.

WVSU launched a 10-5 run in the initial four minutes of the second quarter to close the gap on West Liberty. Hannah Shriver split the defense and made a layup to cut the deficit to three points, 37-34, with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.

The Hilltoppers kept their distance for the rest of the first half and went up by as much as 14 points, 49-35, with 2:45 left in the second period. The Yellow Jackets forced a pair of turnovers and made two field goals along with a three-point shot in the final two minutes of the opening half to keep the game from getting out of hand. West Virginia State went into the break down by nine points, 51-42.  

The Yellow Jackets outscored the Hilltoppers, 17-11, in the third quarter. West Liberty made the mistake of chucking up 15 shots from beyond the arc in the third period. Of those 15 shots taken from three-point range, the Hilltoppers made only three baskets.

On the other side of the court, West Virginia State was a highly-efficient 7-of-12 shooting from inside the arc during the third period. Going into the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets were down by only three points, 62-59.

WVSU finally regained the lead in the opening minute of the final period, 63-62, after Cheresne hit a jumper and converted on both of her free throws at the foul line. The remainder of the contest was neck-and-neck between the two teams. Good free-throw shooting by West Virginia State in the last two minutes of the game completed the come-from-behind victory. The Yellow Jackets made 9-of-10 free-throw attempts to close out the contest.

Over half of West Virginia State's points came from inside the paint. The Yellow Jackets collected 44 points in the paint compared to only 18 by West Liberty. The Hilltoppers made 17-of-50 (34 percent) three-point attempts. Conversely, WVSU only attempted 11 three-pointers and was more accurate shooting both from the field and at the charity stripe.  

West Virginia State travels to California (Pa.) for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, Dec. 17 next. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.