WHEELING, W.Va. – West Virginia State women's basketball's eight-game win streak was snapped by Fairmont State in the championship game of the MEC Tournament on Sunday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets appeared in their first-ever conference finals, but were unable to capture their first-ever conference championship despite playing well in the first half. The Falcons gained the momentum with a strong third quarter and held on to win the game by a final score of 81-67.

Imani Reid had a tremendous first half and ended up with 14 points. Emyah Fortenberry matched her 14 points and added eight rebounds. Destiny Fields was also solid with 10 points and six boards.

ZZ Russell received the Heart & Hustle Award for the tournament. Her and Fortenberry made the All-Tournament team.

Fairmont State rushed out to an 11-2 lead in the opening three or so minutes. Emyah Fortenberry was the only Yellow Jacket to record points with a layup at the 7:15 mark.

West Virginia State responded with an 11-2 run over the ensuing two-and-a-half minutes. Hanah Shriver, Shelby Harmeyer and ZZ Russell all knocked down threes to put WVSU on top, 15-13, with 4:27 remaining in the first quarter.

The Falcons clapped back with seven unanswered points to take a five-point lead, 20-15, with two minutes to go in the opening period. WVSU was the only team to score in the last two minutes. After a single free throw was made by Ashley Kerekes, Imani Reid hit two jumpers to knot the score at 20-apiece going into the second quarter.

The Yellow Jackets opened the second quarter with a 14-4 run that lasted through the commercial timeout. Caroline Scott and Reid made a three-pointer each in between Fortenberry bookending the run with a pair of layups. West Virginia State gained a double-digit advantage, 34-24, with the surge of momentum.

Fairmont State cut the lead to four points, 36-32, with two-and-a-half minutes to go in the first half. Reid made another big shot shortly afterwards. She drained a triple to keep the Falcons from coming any closer. The last two points of the second quarter came from a pair of free throws made by Fairmont State. WVSU subsequently held a five-point lead, 39-34, at the halftime buzzer.

The Falcons opened the second half on a 16-3 run that lasted through the media timeout. They made four three-point buckets during the run to gain an eight-point advantage, 50-42, over the Yellow Jackets.

West Virginia State's scoring struggles continued in the latter part of the third quarter. Meanwhile, Fairmont State went up by as much as 13 points, 57-44, with less than a minute remaining. Anysa Jordan made a three from the baseline as time expired in the third to shrink the deficit to 10 points before the final 10-minute period.

The momentum stayed with the Falcons through the first half of the fourth quarter. They increased their lead to 15 points, 69-54, with a layup made exactly at the five-minute mark.

After nearly three minutes ticked off the clock, Fairmont State still led by 15 points, 75-60. The two minutes that remained was not long enough for the Yellow Jackets to make a comeback.

WVSU entered the MEC Tournament ranked ninth in the Atlantic Region. The Yellow Jackets helped their chances of making the NCAA Tournament with a trip to the finals. They will find out if they qualified for regionals during the NCAA DII Women's Basketball Selection Show at 10:30 p.m. tonight.