FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- Hallie Gunnoe tallied a career-high 25 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead Fairmont State to a 95-75 non-conference victory over Salem International on Monday evening at Joe Retton Arena.
With the victory, FSU improves to 6-1 on the season while Salem falls to 0-7.
The Falcons shot 49 percent from the field, including 53 percent in the second half and capitalized on 29-of-32 free throw attempts (90.6%) in the victory. FSU also held a 42-28 advantage on the glass and had 22 assists as a team. Salem shot 44 percent from the field but just 63 percent from the line in the loss.
In addition to Gunnoe's performance,
Hailey Garrett chipped in 16 points, including 13 in the second half.
Emily Puskarich and
Amanda Ruffner each had 15-point performances for the Falcons, with Puskarich knocking down four three-pointers. Ruffner and
Emily Lohr each pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Falcons on the glass.
Salem was led by Shakinah Haggins, Inkera Patterson and Samantha Aikens with 15 points each for the Tigers. Amanda Jackson also recorded a double-double for SIU with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The first half went back-and-forth with six lead changes early before Fairmont State went on a 15-2 run over a three-minute stretch to grab a 33-22 lead at the 6:30 mark. Harrison scored nine points to key the run for the Falcons. FSU maintained their double-digit lead by taking a 44-33 lead into the locker room.
Kelli Jo Harrison came off the bench in the opening half after early foul trouble by the FSU post players and had a team-high 11 points at the break. The Falcons also went 15-of-17 from the line in the first half, compared to just 5-of-7 for SIU.
The Falcons quickly pushed their lead to 17 after a quick 7-1 spurt in the opening 1:06 of the second half. With FSU still leading 57-40 at the 14:44 mark, Salem used a 25-8 run over the next seven minutes to trim the FSU lead to just four points (69-65) with eight minutes to play. However, FSU responded with a 9-0 run to jump back out to a 13-point advantage with under six the play. Salem was only able to cut the FSU lead down to single digits one more time before FSU extended the final score to 95-75.
The Falcons will host MEC-foe Charleston on Thursday evening at Joe Retton Arena. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m.
