WHEELING, W.Va. – The Fairmont State (23-8) women’s basketball team utilized a strong second quarter, where they outscored West Liberty (17-12) 24-10 in the Falcons’ Mountain East Conference Quarterfinal victory on Thursday (March 2) night at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, W.Va.
“Our kids played with so much heart,” said Fairmont State head coach Stephanie Anderson. “I thought our team executed perfectly. West Liberty played us tough and made a few runs to close the gap. Our girls responded and countered with scoring runs back, and that was huge.”
The Falcons led by 19 points at the end of the first half and took advantage of the cushion. The Hilltoppers managed to trim the Fairmont State lead to seven points late in the third quarter. The Falcons regained the momentum and led by double-digits the entire fourth quarter.
“That was a big focus in the locker room going into this game,” said Alyssa DeAngelo, who led all scorers with 22 points. “We wanted to get out to a big lead, and we did just that. It puts your mind at ease getting a lead like that at halftime. It gave us energy going into the second half.”
The Falcons’ defense forced 25 Hilltopper turnovers and capitalized on the offensive end with 25 points from turnovers.”Turnovers ignite our team,” said Anderson. “It gives us a ton of energy and our girls feed off of that.”
“Defense is one thing we can control,” said senior guard Katy Darnell.
Darnell hustled down 13 rebounds, including nine from the offensive end, and scored 15 points to earn her 10th double-double of the season.
“It’s a big boost for our team if we can get another shot,” remarked Darnell. “If we can keep the possession going, it helps our team. I love outworking people and offensive rebounds are a big part of that. If you want it, you’re going to get it.”
The sibling tandem of Madeline Huffman (13 points) and Leslie Huffman (12 points) combined for 25 points. Jalen Gibbs finished in double figures with 10 points. Madeline Huffman (4), DeAngelo (3) and Darnell (2) all had multiple assists. DeAngelo led the charge on the defensive end with three steals.
West Liberty took an 8-2 lead in the first two and a half minutes. Jertaya Hall sank a three-pointer and DeAngelo followed with a driving layup to pull the Falcons within one point. DeAngelo and Brunny both finished layups to give the Falcons their first lead, 11-10 with 4:35 to go. After the Hilltoppers regained the lead, DeAngelo converted two free throws and Aaliyah Brunny drained a deep three to put Fairmont State ahead by three. The Falcons finished the first quarter outscoring WLU by five with Madeline Huffman connecting on a shot beyond the arc to put Fairmont State up 27-22.
The huge second quarter for Fairmont State started with a DeAngelo scoring her 10th point of the game on a layup to put the Falcons ahead 35-29. Madeline Huffman followed with a free throw and a three-pointer to put the Falcons ahead by 10 and completed a 6-0 run. After a WLU bucket, DeAngelo made a pair of free throws and Jalen Gibbs and Leslie Huffman followed with layups to put Fairmont State up by 14. Madeline Huffman and DeAngelo scored consecutive buckets and DeAngelo swished two free throws to finish the impressive second quarter and give the Falcons a 19-point advantage at the half
The Falcons continued to be in synch on the offensive end coming out of the locker room and led by as many as 23 points early in the third quarter. The ‘Toppers began to claw back into the game and trimmed the Fairmont State lead to seven points with 1:14 remaining. Leslie Huffman and Hall each scored a pair of points to pull the Falcons back ahead by double digits at the end of the third quarter.
The Falcons continued to rattle off points in the early moments of the fourth quarter and scored 10 unanswered and led by 21 points with 7:21 remaining. The Hilltoppers would not trail by less than 14 points down the stretch, and the Falcons took down the Hilltoppers in the conference quarterfinal round, 86-71.
“I think this team truly cares for each other,” commented Anderson. “I think this team has fantastic leadership. These two [Katy Darnell & Alyssa DeAngelo] and Jertaya Hall have been our leaders this season and have done a fantastic job.”
With the win, the Fairmont State women’s basketball team advances to the MEC Semifinal round and will play the No. 1 seed, Glenville State, on Saturday (March 4) at noon inside WesBanco Arena.
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