INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's basketball team came up short against Notre Dame College on Wednesday night at the Walker Convocation Center, 75-63.
West Virginia State drops to 0-3 on the season and 0-3 in Mountain East Conference play with the loss. Notre Dame improves to 3-0 on the year, 3-0 in the MEC with the win.
Junior guards
Charity Shears (13 points) and
Payton Shears (11 points) led the way for the Yellow Jackets. Meanwhile, sophomore
Destiny Fields reeled in a game-high 12 rebounds.
Scoring in the first period of play was even between the two teams. Both teams made runs and both teams fought their way back afterwards. The separation came from two three-pointers from WVSU's Sa'Dera Johnson and
Hannah Shriver. The Yellow Jackets ended the quarter up five, 22-17.
For the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter both teams were putting the ball in the basket consistently. WVSU made a pair of threes and Notre Dame scored a group of layups to keep it even. However, both teams hit a will at the 6:35 mark of the quarter. Each side went scoreless until NDC made a layup at the 2:13 mark. After that drought, scoring became natural again for both teams. West Virginia State was ahead by two going into halftime, 37-35.
Scoring once again was scarce for both teams in the beginning on the third quarter. It wasn't until Notre Dame's small run at the half way point of the quarter that consistent scoring returned. The Yellow Jackets were able to stay in the game with the help of some turnovers by the Falcons. Notre Dame held the lead, however, going into the final period of play, 55-50.
The final period of play was as even as it gets. Late-game fouling was what carried Notre Dame to the 12-point victory on the night.
WVSU was able to speed up the Falcons to a pace that they normally don't play at. It showed with the Yellow Jackets scoring 23 points off turnovers compared to Notre Dame's 15 points.
The Yellow Jackets will hit the road again and head to Alderson Broadus on Saturday, Jan. 16. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
