WHEELING, W.Va. – The Fairmont State University women's basketball team faced the University of Charleston in the Mountain East Conference Tournament semifinals. After trailing by nine at the half, the Falcons outscored the Golden Eagles 45-32 en route to the 72-68 win.
The win clinches a championship appearance for the Falcons, the first since the 2017 tournament.
Fairmont State opened the game as
Jalen Gibbs worked her way into the paint and laid in the opening basket. Charleston started to take over as it went on an 8-0 while the Falcons turned over the ball five times.
Bre Wilson ended the snide with two free throws and following another basket by the Golden Eagles,
Alyssa DeAngelo drove the lane for a layup. At the 4:43 mark of the first, Charleston led 10-6.
The offensive started to pick up as the two teams went back-and-forth. Late in the shot clock,
Leslie Huffman hit a step back three to pull FSU within one (14-13). Huffman called her number on the next possession with a pull-up jumper from the free throw line. Gibbs continued the run with a layup as the Falcons closed the first period on a 7-0 run to lead 17-14 going into the second.
In the second period, the lead slowly started to slip away as the Golden Eagles were able to capitalize on missed baskets by Fairmont State. Charleston out scored the Falcons 13-7 in the first five-plus minutes. With 4:53 on the clock, the Golden Eagles were ahead 27-24.
Charleston added two free throws before DeAngelo made a free, ending a scoring drought of 3:29 as FSU trailed 29-25. Over the final 2:32 of the half, the Golden Eagles added seven points compared to just two for the Falcons. As both teams headed to their respective locker rooms, Charleston led 36-27.
Out of the halftime locker rooms, Fairmont State started to find its rhythm on offense as it went on an 8-2 run and narrowed the margin to three (38-35). Charleston did not blink and scored four of the next six points to lead 42-37 at the 5:26 mark.
The Falcons started to get the scoring going out of a media timeout as it scored four-straight points and pulled within one, 42-41. The Golden Eagles countered with five-consecutive before
Aaliyah Brunny picked up an offensive rebound and scored on the putback. With just five seconds remaining, DeAngelo stole an inbound pass and drove the floor to lay one in as the horn sounded. Fairmont State trailed only by two, 47-45, going to the final 10 minutes of regulation.
Fairmont State carried the momentum into the fourth as Brunny and Gibbs made to layups to even the score at 49. Charleston threw a bad pass as Darnell picked up the loose ball and found
Leslie Huffman. Huffman drove the lane, made the basket, and drew the foul. Her free throw was good as the Falcons went in front 52-49 with 6:52 on the clock.
The regular season champs continued their run and eventually went up by 10 (59-49) with 4:43 on the clock. Gibbs scored six of the team 12-straight points. The Golden Eagles dropped in two-consecutive layups before DeAngelo completed a three-point play. Charleston had one of its own before Gibbs went up and under to put the team ahead 64-56 with 3:12 to go.
Golden Eagles' Taylor Austin hit a three but down on the other end, DeAngelo found Huffman on the right wing as she buried a three of her own. Charleston scored five in final seconds, but the difference was too much as the Falcons held on for the four-point win.
In the fourth period, Gibbs and DeAngelo combined for 17 of the teams 27 points. DeAngelo finished the game with 19 points while Gibbs had 18. The Falcons outscored the Golden Eagles 32-20 in the pain in the second half.
Fairmont State (25-5) now awaits the winner of the West Virginia State and Concord for the MEC Tournament Championship game on Sunday, March 10. Start time is slated for 2:00 p.m.
