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West Virginia State University Athletics

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WBB2324 Reid
Photo: Todd Griffith
78
Winner Fairmont St. FairSt 17-5,11-4 MEC
76
West Virginia St. WVSt 13-9,9-6 MEC
Winner
Fairmont St. FairSt
17-5,11-4 MEC
78
Final
76
West Virginia St. WVSt
13-9,9-6 MEC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Fairmont St. FairSt 24 17 15 22 78
West Virginia St. WVSt 21 22 12 21 76

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

WVSU edged by Fairmont in hard-fought contest

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State women's basketball (13-9, 9-6 MEC) fell to Fairmont State (17-5, 11-4 MEC) by a final score of 78-76 on Saturday afternoon at the Walker Convocation Center. The game was close wire-to-wire and came down to a final shot being made as the clock expired.

Four Yellow Jackets scored in double-digits including Imani Reid (13 points), Anysa Jordan (12 points), Shelby Harmeyer (12 points) and Destiny Fields (11 points). Both Jordan and Fields came close to double-doubles with nine rebounds each.

West Virginia State and Fairmont State played neck-and-neck for much of the first quarter. The Falcons were first to pull away when they went up by seven, 18-11, and forced Head Coach Charles Marshall to burn a timeout with 3:44 remaining. The timeout was called after Fairmont scored eight unanswered points in just over two minutes.

The Falcons increased their lead to nine points, 20-11, coming out of the timeout before the Yellow Jackets ended their scoring drought with a layup from Caroline Scott. Baskets were then traded before West Virginia State scored six unanswered to close out the first quarter. Emyah Fortenberry banked back-to-back layups before ZZ Russell made a pull up jumper in the last seconds to cut the deficit to three points, 24-21.

The Yellow Jackets seized the lead around the six-minute mark of the second quarter on the heels of an 8-0 run. Imani Reid and Destiny Fields split the points during the run with four each. Fields capped the run by sinking a pair of free throws to put WVSU on top by a single point, 31-30.

Play evened out for the remainder of the opening half. West Virginia State scored five unanswered points at the end of the second quarter to take a two-point lead, 43-41, into halftime. Fortenberry's layup with less than 30 seconds left gave WVSU the lead at the break.

Fairmont started the third quarter with a 6-0 run to go in front, 47-43, before the Yellow Jackets evened the score with a 6-2 run. Five minutes remained in the third period with nothing to separate the opponents at 49-apiece.

The Falcons barely outscored West Virginia State, 7-6, in the second half of the third stanza. They held a one-point advantage, 56-55, going into the final 10 minutes.

The trading of baskets continued up to the last media timeout. Fairmont's Aaliyah Brunn knocked down a three-pointer before Shelby Harmeyer hit a trey leading up to the commercial timeout. After Harmeyer's three-point bucket, the score was deadlocked at 68-all with four minutes left in the contest.

The Falcons went on a 6-1 run inside the final two minutes to go up by three, 76-73, with 42 seconds remaining. Harmeyer hit another trey with 29 seconds left to tie the score again. Turnovers were traded before Fairmont stole an inbound pass with 2.2 seconds left. The 2.2 seconds remaining was just enough time for the Falcons to inbound from halfcourt after a timeout and make an easy layup underneath the basket.

The Yellow Jackets will travel to Salem on Wednesday, Feb. 14 for a 5:30 p.m. clash next.
 
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