Box Score

ELKINS, W.VA. -- A nailbiter until the very finish, West Virginia State University Basketball held on to down Mountain East Conference foes Davis & Elkins Monday at the McDonnell Center 68-65. 

WVSU improves to 13-5 overall and 9-4 in MEC action, while the Senators slip 5-14 on the year and 2-12 in the league. 

Senior Charity Shears led the scoring for the Yellow Jackets with 19 points, adding two steals and a pair of rebounds. Junior Shelby Harmeyer was the other double-digit performer with 13 points. Freshman Emyah Fortenberry topped the squad with nine boards. 

D&E took an early lead as the first quarter opened, putting up seven straight points before a layup from Harmeyer and a pair of free throws from Russell put State on the board. After a trey from Hannah Shriver, Harmeyer tied things up on a layup dished by Caroline Scott, for a 9-9 mark. 

The two squads began to trade points and leads for the duration of the frame, with the Senators holding a slight edge on a quick 5-0 run at 19-14. Harmeyer quickly trimmed the deficit again with a pair of three pointers to bring State within one at 21-20.

A 5-0 run closed out the quarter, as Scott put the lay-in to tie the contest at 24-24. 

A lone point at the charity stripe for Fortenberry was the only basket for either team through the first five minutes of the second quarter. 

Shears broke the scoring blank with a three to put the Yellow Jackets ahead 28-24, but the Senators scored nearly back-to-back-to-back, going on a 6-0 run to even the contest and take the lead. 

A trio of free throws from the veterans Ashley Davis and Alana Kramer looked to hand State the lead heading into halftime before D&E fired off a jumper with just four second remaining in the frame to enter the locker room with a 32-21 advantage. 

The squads opened up the third quarter in similar fashion to the first, trading points and neither team gaining a real advantage. Back-to-back baskets from senior Charity Shears tied the contest at 37-37 with a little under eight minutes in the frame. 

Shears continued with the hot shooting, logging all 10 of her points to that point during the quarter, making good from the free throw line to put WVSU ahead 43-41. 

A 7-0 run featuring a Harmeyer trey, a Davis layup and a pair of free throws from Payton Shears handed State their biggest lead of the contest at 50-43 with 1:53 remaining in the quarter. 

The Yellow Jackets continued to build their lead, led by Charity Shears, who finished the third quarter with 15 points as State took a 57-49 cushion into the final frame. 

A jumper from Alexis Hall in the fourth quarter kept the Yellow Jackets to a 10-point margin before the Senators broke into an 8-2 scoring run over three minutes to narrow the gap to just four points at 64-60 and then to just three at 66-63 with under a minute remaining in regulation. 

A pair of free throws with 13 seconds on the clock really put on the pressure cooker for WVSU, who clung to a one-point lead. A foul to Charity Shears with 10 seconds remaining proved to be the final push, giving State the final cushion at 68-65. 

Davis finished with eight points while Payton Shears added seven. 

UP NEXT

WVSU returns to Walker Convocation Center Wednesday, hosting West Liberty at a 5:30 p.m. tip. Live stats and streaming will be provided.