Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

West Virginia State University Athletics

Navigation stripe
WBB2122 Harmeyer
70
Davis & Elkins D&E 8-21,5-17 MEC
79
Winner West Virginia St. WVSt 18-10,13-9 MEC
Davis & Elkins D&E
8-21,5-17 MEC
70
Final
79
West Virginia St. WVSt
18-10,13-9 MEC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Davis & Elkins D&E 22 16 13 19 70
West Virginia St. WVSt 15 20 28 16 79

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | James Garcia, Sports Information Director

WVSU advances to quarterfinals with win over D&E; will face UC next

WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Mountain East Conference Tournament with a win over Davis & Elkins, 79-70, at the WesBanco Arena on Wednesday afternoon. WVSU trailed in the first half, but overturned the deficit in the third quarter and hung on to win it in the fourth.

Shelby Harmeyer was the game's leading scorer with 20 points. She shot 4-of-9 from three-point range. Meanwhile, Emyah Fortenberry secured the boards with a team-high 14 rebounds. 

The Yellow Jackets struggled to score in the first period. Shelby Harmeyer kept WVSU in the game early on by knocking down two three-pointers. Her second trey brought State back to within two points, 10-8, of Davis & Elkins with around seven minutes to go. 

The deficit grew to seven at the midway point of the first period before the Yellow Jackets scored five unanswered to catch back up. Peyton Shears finished an old-fashioned three-point play prior to Erin Whitehead banking a layup to get back within two, 17-15. The Senators' Allie Taylor then hit a jumper in the paint and connected on a shot from behind the arc to leave WVSU down by seven again, 22-15, at the end of the opening stanza.

West Virginia State was better in the second period and outscored D&E, 20-16. State fell behind by 10 points, 30-20, in the opening three minutes but quickly came back with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes. A three-point bucket from Charity Shears capped the run with five minutes remaining until halftime.

The latter half of the second period was played evenly with the Senators barely edging the Yellow Jackets, 8-7. ZZ Russel's layup in the closing seconds of the first half closed the gap to three points, 38-35, at the break.

In the third quarter, State was finally able to take the lead. Three-pointers were made by the Shears sisters and Harmeyer in the first three minutes before Harmeyer laid it in to tie it at 48-apiece at the 6:28-mark. From that point forward, it was almost all WVSU as the Yellow Jackets embarked on a 15-3 run to close out the third period. Going into the final 10 minutes, State held a commanding 12-point advantage, 63-51, thanks to the aforementioned stretch.

WVSU did not let up in the fourth quarter. After trading baskets through the first few minutes, the Yellow Jackets scored six unanswered to increase their advantage to 17 points, 74-57, with six minutes remaining in the contest. The Senators did all they could to mount a comeback in the time left but State held its ground. A pair of last-minute threes by D&E created a deceiving final score of 79-70.

The Yellow Jackets were sent to the charity stripe for 31 shots and made 21 of them for a 68 percent conversion rate. On the other hand, the Senators had a total of four free throw attempts in the game and made only two.

WVSU will face No. 2 seeded Charleston tomorrow at noon in the quarterfinals. The rematch presents the Yellow Jackets with a chance to avenge their loss to the Golden Eagles by a score of 67-61 less than a week ago. Links for live stats and live video are available on the MEC Tournament Central site.
Print Friendly Version