FAIRMONT, W. Va. – The Fairmont State women's basketball team (6-0 overall, 3-0 Mountain East Conference) defended their undefeated start to the season against the Yellow Jackets of West Virginia State (3-3, 1-2 MEC) in a 94-88 battle to the end.
Alyssa DeAngelo led all scorers with 30 points including five triples, to go along with two blocks and three assists. Madeline Huffman recorded 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Leslie Huffman had 14 points seven rebounds. Jalen Gibbs scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Katy Darnell helped her side defensively with nine rebounds and two steals to go along with 10 points.
The first bucket of the night belonged to Madeline Huffman off a fast break for two. DeAngelo and Aaliyah Brunny knocked down back-to-back threes to make the score 12-3, in favor of FSU. Fairmont State continued their offensive drive leading to a WVSU timeout with 6:39 to play in the opening quarter. Bre Wilson drained a triple to hold onto the Falcons' double-digit lead. DeAngelo hit two consecutive shots to push the FSU lead to 24-10. After multiple stops by the Fairmont State defense, Leslie Huffman drove to the basket for a three-point play after a WVSU foul. After struggling to get out of the Yellow Jacket's full court press, Madeline Huffman hit a three to edge WVSU 32-19 after the first quarter.
Leslie Huffman and Darnell hit an and one play each to extend their lead over West Virginia State by 20 at the beginning of the second quarter. DeAngelo notched a three pointer from downtown to put the Falcons up 47-23 with 5:00 minutes to go in the first half. On back-to-back possessions, Zaniya Murray hit a jumper and Leslie Huffman grabbed a bucket to make the score 51-27. DeAngelo struck on her third and fourth triple of the night to help the Falcons to a 57-31 after the first 20 minutes of play.
After a few minutes of action, West Virginia State's Zakorrah Russell hit a three pointer to alter the Fairmont State advantage to 61-38. A layup by Darnell helped the Falcons to a 70-43 lead with 5:46 to go. WVSU continued to fight back offensively but DeAngelo managed a jumper at the end of the third quarter to make the score 73-58.
Wilson and DeAngelo notched a floater each to help the Falcons' lead 79-65. Wilson came back again to chalk up a three pointer with 6:30 to play in the game. Leslie Huffman drained a shot from downtown and Madeline Huffman capitalized on a huge hustle play to put their team up by 16, 87-71. The Yellow Jackets came back within nine with 2:37 to go. A FSU turnover turned into a foul of their own, where WVSU gained two points from the stripe. Two consecutive jumpers by WV State made for a two-point game. West Virginia State's Shelby Harmeyer grabbed a rebound and notched a layup, forcing a FSU timeout. After a Fairmont State miss, Darnell snatched a rebound and turned it into a bucket herself with 36 seconds left to go up by two points. On the other side, the Yellow Jackets missed a chance which saw a foul on the rebound attempt. DeAngelo would head to the line where she knocked down both shots to
make the score 92-88. At the 14 second mark, a foul on WVSU sent DeAngelo back to the stripe where she drained each shot. This capped off a Fairmont State win 94-88.
Up Next
Fairmont State will look to their next contest at Charleston this Saturday (Dec. 2). Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.
