SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- Shepherd held off a late push by Fairmont State and held on for a 72-64 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Butcher Center on the campus of Shepherd University.
 
With the victory, Shepherd improves to 10-8 overall and 7-5 in Mountain East Conference play. The Falcons slipped to 7-11 overall and 4-8 in the league.
 
Fairmont State threatened Shepherd down the stretch by using an 8-2 over a three minute stretch to cut the Rams lead to just five (65-60) with 2:40 to play in the second half.
 
After Shepherd's Kari Lankford went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, Kamrin Weimer buried two shots at the free throw line to make the margin just four (66-62) with 2:07 remaining. From that point, however, Shepherd outscored Fairmont State 6-2 in the final 1:37 of play to close out the Ram victory.
 
Lankford went 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the final 1:15 of play to help SU hold off the Falcons.
 
Shepherd scored 30 of its 72 points in the paint and held a 37-26 rebounding advantage in the victory. The Rams held a 14-4 advantage on the offensive glass.
 
Offensively, Fairmont State shot 51 percent from the field, including 53.8 percent in the second and 61.5 percent in the third. Brooke Kurucz led the Falcon offense with 19 points on 8-of-13 from the field. Weimer (11) and Rachel Laskody (10) also reached double-figures for the Falcons.
 
Shepherd shot just under 50 percent from the field (48.4) and used a balanced offensive attack in the victory. Lankford paced the Rams with 18 points, nine assists and six steals, and Sydney Clayton added a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards. Lauren Reed also chipped in 16 points off the bench and Kayla Tibbs added 12 for the Rams.
 
SU recorded 17 assists on 30 made baskets in the game.
 
Both teams struggled from behind the arc on the afternoon, with Fairmont State making just 4-of-13 attempts (30.8%), and Shepherd making 3-of-9 attempts (33.3%).
 
Fairmont State will return to action Wednesday against Wheeling Jesuit. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m. at Joe Retton Arena.