INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State's women's basketball team (4-4, 2-3 MEC) forced overtime to try to overcome a 30-17 halftime deficit, but fell short in a 63-56 overtime loss to the Wheeling Cardinals (8-0, 4-0 MEC). State shot 17 percent in the first half and made six buckets, putting the Yellow Jackets in a hole that they were almost able to climb out of.

WVSU had three double-digit scorers, all with 10 points: Emyah Fortenberry, Destiny Fields, and Shelby Harmeyer. Harmeyer also grabbed 14 rebounds.

Wheeling's Rachel Wilson led all scorers with 17 points. 

The first quarter was rough for State from the field. They only made three buckets, all of them from long range. Hannah Shriver scored first for the Yellow Jackets at the 7:40 mark, followed by Ashley Kerekes at 6:45. Fields hit a trey with 3:30 left to cap the first quarter scoring for State. 

Both teams struggled in the second quarter. State shot 17.7 percent, while Wheeling shot 11.8 percent. Imani Reid hit a layup 39 seconds into the quarter, ending a scoring drought of just over four minutes long. Harmeyer scored a layup of her own at the 7:10 mark. Kerekes hit the back-end of a two shot foul with 4:50 to play and Fields scored WVSU's final bucket 18 seconds later. Harmeyer scored the second of two foul shots just before halftime. 

Wheeling scored eight of their 11 third quarter points prior to the under-five media timeout. State went on a 14-3 run in the last five minutes of the quarter, capped by a Shriver trey with 29 seconds to play in the frame and trimming the Wheeling lead to 40-37. Wheeling hit a foul shot late to extend the lead to two possessions heading into the fourth quarter.

Wheeling scored their final points of regulation with 3:11 to play, 50-45. Fortenberry responded with a layup to cut the lead to three points, 50-47. Fields made it two points with just under two minutes to play and Fortenberry tied the game up at 50-all just as the clock ticked under a minute. Each team took one more shot, but they both came up short and the game headed to overtime.

Fortenberry gave State their first lead of the game 32 seconds into the extra period, but Wheeling took it right back with a foul shot and a layup. Fortenberry again gave State the lead with a layup but she fouled out on the next Wheeling possession. Wheeling scored eight unanswered and Kerekes added a layup as time expired for the final score.

State heads north to West Liberty on Saturday, December 9th for a 2:00 pm showdown with the Hilltoppers. West Liberty fell to Charleston 94-60 on Wednesday night in Charleston.