FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The Fairmont State women's basketball team (21-8, 15-6 Mountain East Conference) earned a wire-to-wire victory over West Virginia Wesleyan (5-20, 4-17 MEC) at Joe Retton Arena on Wednesday (Feb. 22) evening. The Fighting Falcons extended their winning streak to seven games.
 
Jalen Gibbs picked up her fifth double-double of the season, which included 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Fighting Falcons. Jertaya Hall scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Alyssa DeAngelo finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Madeline Huffman delivered three assists to go along with her five points on the evening.
 
Fairmont State jumped out to a quick 5-0 start in the first few minutes of the matchup. Gibbs helped the Falcons with four points in the quick offensive start and the Bobcats were forced to call a timeout after a 9-2 Fairmont State start. Madeline Huffman dished out a pass just under the basket to Aaliyah Brunny to make the score 15-10 late in the first quarter. Hall knocked down two free throws at the end of the quarter to push the Fighting Falcons' advantage to 17-10.
 
Gibbs and DeAngelo had a defensive block each in the second quarter that denied scoring opportunities for the Bobcats. Fairmont State went on a nine-point scoring spree that increased the Fairmont State lead to 15. The run featured a triple by DeAngelo and layups by Brunny and Leslie Huffman. Wesleyan cut the Fairmont State advantage to eight points with under a minute to go. A driving layup by Hall with 27 seconds to go in the first half put the Falcons ahead 29-19 at the half.
 
Gibbs started where she left off in the first half with two layups and an offensive rebound to make the score 34-21 in favor of Fairmont State. Madeline Huffman knocked down a jumper with 7:37 to go in the third quarter. The Bobcats went on a 7-0 run, but DeAngelo quieted the run with a reverse layup to make the score 38-28 with 3:09 to play in the third. After Leslie Huffman sank two free throws, DeAngelo powered her way through contact for a bucket and a foul which she turned into a three-point play. Hall then proceeded to match DeAngelo with another three-point play off a layup and foul. Fairmont State led Wesleyan 46-30 at the end of the third period of action.
 
Hall drained a shot from behind the arc that pushed the Fairmont State lead to 53-36 with 7:47 to play. Brunny netted a pair of free throws before a Bobcats offensive run. Darnell answered with a layup to make the score 57-43 with just a few minutes to go in the contest. Fairmont State led by double-digits the entire final quarter of play and earned a 59-46 win at Joe Retton Arena.
 
The Fairmont State women's basketball team will face Frostburg State this Saturday (Feb. 25) afternoon at 2 p.m. in the final regular season game of the season. The Falcons will recognize graduating seniors and Fairmont State basketball alumni.