Box Score
Shepherd Postgame | West Virginia Wesleyan Postgame
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By Duane Cochran for MountainEast.org
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Cara Mason and Morgan Arden both made single free throws in the final 10 seconds to help seventh-seeded Shepherd University hold off 10th-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan and record a 68-65 victory in the opening round of the annual Mountain East Conference Basketball Tournament here Wednesday afternoon at the Charleston Civic Center.
The win, Shepherd's fifth in its last six games, improves the Rams to 15-16 overall and puts them in Thursday's quarterfinal round against second-seeded Wheeling Jesuit (22-6) at noon.
Wesleyan, on the other hand, ended the season at 6-20. The loss was the 12th straight for the Bobcats, who had to endure a series of injuries throughout the season.
The contest was close the whole way Wednesday. Shepherd's biggest lead was by six early in the first quarter, while Wesleyan held a seven-point, 37-30, advantage at the half.
In the third quarter Shepherd used hot shooting going 10-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range to wipe out the Bobcats' lead and build a 54-50 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.
“That's what you guys wanted right? A close game,” Shepherd coach Jenna Eckleberry said with a smile. “West Virginia Wesleyan did a heckuva job today. Their players stepped up, kept making plays for them and kept them in it.
“I think the turning point in the game was the third quarter. We came out trying to make a statement and trying to get back to doing the things that we needed to do to win and that was play together and play hard. We got away from that in the second quarter and panicked a little, but we got back to playing Shepherd basketball in the second half and when we do that I like our chances against anyone.”
The Rams led by five with a minute to play, but Wesleyan's Stacy Remer made a 3-point basket, was fouled and made the free throw to pull her team to within one at 64-63 with 53 seconds left.
At the other end Mason converted on a driving scoop shot with 28 seconds to play to put the Rams back up by three, but Wesleyan's Mykenzie Martin was fouled just one second later and made a pair of free throws to again make it a one-point game at 66-65.
On Shepherd's next possession Wesleyan was forced to foul the Rams three times to put them at the line in an attempt to get the ball back. Mason finally got there with 10.8 seconds to play, but only made one of her two attempts giving the Bobcats a chance to tie the game in the final 10 seconds. Shepherd's defense, however, was outstanding in the last 10 seconds. A desperation driving shot by Martin with two seconds left fell well short and Arden cleared the rebound and was fouled with six-tenths of a second to play. She made one of her two attempts to provide Shepherd with its final margin of victory.
“We defended their last possession pretty well,” Arden said. “Coach was telling us to be on the lookout for a three so we were well aware of where their shooters were, but we also didn't want to let them have an easy drive and we didn't.”
Shepherd, which shot 44.6 percent from the field for the game (25-of-56), including a 16-of-28 (57.1 percent) showing in the final two quarters, was led by Arden's 19 points. The Rams also got 16 points and seven assists from Mason, 11 points and five rebounds from Tiffany McKinney and nine points and nine rebounds from Liz Myers.
Wesleyan shot 35.3 percent for the game from the field (24-of-68). In the final two quarters the Bobcats were just 9-of-30 (30.0 percent). Tara Goldman and Remer both finished with double-double performances for Wesleyan. Goldman led the way with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Remer added 17 points and 10 boards. Martin added 12 points for the Bobcats and Nicole Gilyard chipped in 11.
“We had a group of kids this season who never stopped playing,” first-year Wesleyan coach Vicky Bullett said. “We had a tough stretch after the Glenville game when we suffered a lot of injuries. We have 16 kids on the roster and only eight are healthy.
“The ladies played hard and never quit. They play until the whistle blows and that's what we did today.”
Goldman agreed with her coach.
“We had a mentality today that we did not want to lose,” Goldman said. “People don't expect us to win, but we came out today and told everyone to shoot because sometimes we get mad at each other for not shooting. If we miss or come up short we'll get another chance.
“Our effort today was good. We played right until the end, but just came up a little shy.”
Wheeling, the next opponent for Shepherd Thursday, won both meetings between the teams in the regular season.
Box Score
Charleston Postgame | West Liberty Postgame
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By Duane Cochran for MountainEast.org
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Eighth-seeded Charleston outscored ninth-seeded West Liberty 37-12 over the course of the final 12:20 hereWednesday afternoon at the Charleston Civic Center to record an 82-55 victory in the opening round of the annual Mountain East Conference Basketball Tournament.
The win improved the Golden Eagles to 11-18 on the year and earns them a berth in Thursday's quarterfinals against top-seeded Glenville State at 6 p.m.
West Liberty finished the season with a 9-20 record.
“Our team played extremely hard and together and we played to our strengths today and that was a key for us,” Charleston coach Adam Collins said. “All year long when we've done that we've won and we've won by a pretty decent margin. For us, a lot of times it's all about us and today us was pretty good.”
Indeed UC was. After a high-scoring first 10 minutes West Liberty held a 23-22 lead. In the second quarter, however, things slowed considerably as the two teams combined for just 17 total points which resulted in 33-28 halftime lead for the Golden Eagles.
In the third quarter it appeared as if Charleston was poised to run away from the Hilltoppers. Jordyn Peck's 3-pointer gave UC a 45-34 lead at the 4:19 mark of the quarter, but West Liberty responded with a quick 9-0 spurt over the next 1:40 to pull itself back to within two at 45-43. That, however, was as close as West Liberty would get as Charleston outscored the Hilltoppers by 25 the rest of the way.
“We made it interesting there briefly,” veteran West Liberty coach Lynn Ullom said. “It's amazing. We went from being down two to being down 10 there in about 30 seconds. We missed a couple of shots. We turned it over and we lost Peck a few times.
“Give credit to Charleston. They were more prepared today and they were the better team. Even when it was 23-22 there at the end of the first quarter we never had a feel like that was the way it was going to turn out. This whole season for us has felt like running a marathon uphill. We never got in a rhythm where we ever got on cruise control. It's disappointing because I've had some of my greatest moments in this building and at this tourmanent.”
After the opening quarter Charleston pretty much dominated West Liberty in all phases. The Golden Eagles shot 51.7 percent from the field in the win (31-of-60), including an impressive 17-of-31 showing in the final two quarters (54.8 percent). UC also outrebounded the Hilltoppers 42-29, held a 19-12 advantage in assists and only turned the basketball over 11 times in the game.
“Our main goal in the second half was not to let them have open looks at threes and not to let (Marissa) Brown get it in the post,” UC's Abby Watson said. “We knew if we could limit those two options they wouldn't score much. I think for the most part we did a good job of that defensively and as a result it led to good offense for us.”
Watson finished with 22 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals to lead the Golden Eagles. She tied her career high in the win in points scored and steals.
UC also got 22 points and five boards from Peck, 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds from Anna Hayton and 10 points and four assists from Octavia Loll.
Grace Foder's 14 points and 10 rebounds led West Liberty. Brandi Beader also chipped in 14 points for the Hilltoppers, while Marissa Brown and Johnie Olkosky finished with 10 points apiece.
West Liberty was just 20-of-59 on field goal attempts for the game (33.9 percent), including a 7-of-31 showing (22.6 percent) from 3-point range.
Top-seeded Glenville State, Charleston's next opponent, recorded a pair of 13-point victories over the Golden Eagles during the regular season.