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West Virginia State University Athletics

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WBB23 Seniors
Photo: Todd Griffith
53
West Virginia St. WVSt 21-11,14-6 MEC
73
Winner Gannon Gannon 33-2,21-1 PSAC
West Virginia St. WVSt
21-11,14-6 MEC
53
Final
73
Gannon Gannon
33-2,21-1 PSAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
West Virginia St. WVSt 23 8 6 16 53
Gannon Gannon 16 23 17 17 73

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Bryan Shepherd, Assistant Sports Information Director

WVSU Women’s Basketball exits NCAA Atlantic Regional with first-round loss to Gannon

ERIE, Penn. – West Virginia State's women's basketball (21-11) season came to an end on Friday afternoon following a 73-53 loss to the top seeded Gannon (33-2) Golden Knights. WVSU took a 23-10 lead with under two minutes to play, but struggled from the field after that, making eight field goals through the rest of the game.

Destiny Fields was the lone double-digit scorer for WVSU, scoring 18 to lead all scorers in the contest. Emyah Fortenberry and Latifat Olatunji each grabbed nine boards. 

Hannah Shriver opened the scoring with a pair of foul shots from the charity stripe. Emily Anthony cut through the lane and kissed the ball off the glass to double the WVSU lead. Gannon tied the game up and then the teams traded 1-for-2 trips to the foul line to tie the game at 5-5.  A triple by Gannon regained the lead for Gannon. State then went on a 15-0 run with Fields providing the long-range bomb to cap the run. That run extended to 17-2 after Gannon and State traded buckets with just under two minutes to play, 23-10. Gannon scored the last six points of the quarter to make it 23-16 after 10 minutes.

ZZ Russell put a brief end to the Gannon run 80 seconds into the second quarter, 25-18. Hallie Bailey hit a layup after a Fortenberry steal, 27-22. Gannon scored the next five points to tie the game, 27-27. Fields hit a layup on the next possession to retake the lead but just before the media timeout, Gannon hit a layup and was fouled, giving them an and-one opportunity. They converted, securing the lead for the final time. Fields hit one more layup in the quarter with 2:21 to play to close within a point, 32-31 but Gannon closed the frame on a 7-0 run, 39-31.

Fields hit a trey with 8:28 to play in the third. It was State's only field goal of the third quarter. Fortenberry hit 3-of-4 free throws with just over a minute to play in the quarter to end a scoring drought that lasted over seven minutes, but Gannon continued shooting well and they took a 56-37 lead into the fourth and final quarter.

Only three field goals came in the fourth quarter for State, all by Fields. A fast-break layup with eight minutes to play, a trey with three-and-a-half minutes left, and a second-chance layup with just over a minute to go. Russell hit 6-of-6 from the free throw line, Fortenberry went 2-for-2 and Fields went 1-of-2, and when the final horn blew, State was on the wrong end of a 73-53 score.

WVSU graduates several members of the team that set multiple school records: Hannah Shriver finishes her career with 469 career assists, the most in school history, and Shelby Harmeyer finishes with 266 three pointers made, also a school career record. Destiny Fields finishes her career 10 points shy of the school career record with 1,452 points. The record currently stands at 1,462 points set by Aurreshae Hines in 2018.
 
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