WHEELING, W.Va. – The Fairmont State University women's basketball faced Glenville State University in the Mountain East Conference Semifinals. Despite a late rally in the fourth period, the Falcons fell to the Pioneers, 83-74.

"I was extremely proud of our team with their fight in the second half," head coach Stephanie Anderson said after the game. "Unfortunately, we need to put two halves together if we want to win a championship."

Glenville State opened the scoring but Fairmont State went on a 6-0 run to take a 6-2 lead. The Pioneers responded with the next six points as Zaniya Murray tied the game with a jumper. GSU then regained the lead with a three to lead 11-8 with 5:40 left in the first.

The Pioneers continued to extend their lead as Murray then made a layup before a three to make it a five-point game, 22-17. Glenville State scored the final two points of the first period to hold a 24-17 advantage going into the second.

Fairmont State started the second with three-straight points from Gabby Reep to make it a four-point game. Unfortunately, GSU scored the next 10 points to go ahead 34-20. Leila Jones hits a three to temporarily pause the run but the Pioneers scored the next four to hold a 38-23 lead with 4:45 on the clock.

Out of the timeout, the pace slowed offensively as neither team was able to get much to go. The two teams exchanged baskets for a minute but Glenville State remained in control of the game. As the halftime horn sounded, the Pioneers led 43-28.

The third period started slowly as Glenville State scoring the first five points. Fairmont State started to come alive with a 9-3 run to make it s 51-37 game with 4:51 to go. Both teams just went up and down the court and exchanged baskets over the final four minutes. Going into the final period of regulation, the Pioneers led 63-45.

In the fourth, the back-and-forth continued as the Falcons started to find their groove on the offensive end. The team went on an 8-2 run and made it a 70-56 game with 5:11 left in regulation. The Pioneers maintained their double-digit advantage but Fairmont State went on a 12-0 to make it a four-point game (74-70) with 1:46 on the clock.

Unfortunately, the Falcons could not close the gap any more as Glenville State held on for the 83-74 victory.

"At the end of the day, we had to do what we were coached to do all year," Hadley Horne mentioned on the fourth quarter rally. "Our team came together and the energy from some of my shots helped fire everyone else up."

"Anytime we went on a run they would hit a big shot," Reep said after the loss. "We had a lot of energy throughout the team and that contributed to our strong second half. We never gave up."

Gabby Reep led the team with 15 points, eight assists and seven steals. Haylen Cook, Hadley Horne and Zaniya Murray each finished with 12 points.

Fairmont State will await the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball selection show to see if it will be playing in the Atlantic Regional. The selection show is on Sunday, March 8 at 10:30 p.m. To watch the show, click here.