By Duane Cochran
For MountainEast.org
WHEELING, W.Va. — Twice is nice.
Top-seeded and 19th-ranked Fairmont State overcame a seven-point deficit midway through the third quarter and rolled to its second consecutive Mountain East Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament championship with a 79-65 victory against sixth-seeded Glenville State here Sunday afternoon at WesBanco Arena.
“We’re certainly going to enjoy this for 24 hours because to accomplish something like we have the past two years means the world to me,” said FSU coach Stephanie Anderson, who is now 54-10 the past two seasons and has claimed back-to-back regular season and MEC Tournament titles. “This really means the world to me. I couldn’t accomplish anything without my staff and players, who buy into what we say.
“The fact that they’ve stuck with us, stayed loyal and stayed true, especially in the culture of the transfer portal, is 
so special. These players and coaches are my family. I’m truly blessed.”
The title marks the first time that Fairmont State’s women have won back-to-back conference tournament championships. The Falcons are also only the fourth women’s team in league history to win repeat titles and the first since the University of Charleston in 2021-22.
The win was the ninth in a row for Fairmont State and its 19th in the last 20 games. It also improved FSU to 27-4 and earns the Falcons the MEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional, which will begin play next Friday.
Like it did in Saturday’s semifinals, Glenville State endured a rough start, but regrouped and used tenacious defense and a late 6-0 spurt to take a 36-33 lead into the halftime locker room. In the third quarter the Pioneers continued to turn FSU over and eventually the advantage ballooned to seven at 45-38 with 6:52 to play.
“I’m very proud of my team,” GSU coach Emily Stoller said. “We came in here as the sixth seed and not really knowing what to expect going into the weekend and to finish second, it’s an accomplishment.
“Hats off to Fairmont State. They’re a great team, which has lots of team chemistry. They’ve played a lot of basketball together. They’re coached very, very well too. We knew it was going to be tough to win.”
With its back against the wall down seven in the third quarter, Fairmont State’s veteran leadership kicked in. Alyssa DeAngelo drained back-to-back 3-pointers to ignite what would become a 30-8 run for the Falcons over the course of the next 10 minutes. That outburst took FSU from a 45-38 deficit to a 68-53 lead with 6:51 to play. After that the Pioneers, who finished the year at 19-12, never got any closer than 10 the rest of the way.
“It’s all about experience,” said DeAngelo, who scored 11 of her game-high 21 points in the final 6:52 of the third quarter. “I was relying on my habits in that moment. If this was two years ago, I can almost guarantee you it would have been a different outcome.
“We played Glenville two years ago, they started turning us over, and we weren’t able to handle it or get back into it. Today we leaned on what we do every day and our experience made a difference.”
Fairmont State also received 20 points, nine rebounds, and four steals from Leslie Huffman, who was named the MEC Tournament Most Valuable Player, and 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds from Jalen Gibbs.
Huffman scored 15 of her 20 points in the final two quarters, including nine in the game-changing third. She also received the award for having the tournament’s highest scoring average.
Huffman was joined on the all-tournament team by DeAngelo and Huffman’s sister, Madeline Huffman, who finished with five points and a game-high seven assists in the title game. FSU’s Aaliyah Brunny received the Commissioner’s Heart and Hustle Award.
“It obviously means a lot to me,” said Leslie Huffman, who averaged 19.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in Fairmont’s three tournament wins. “For anyone to get that kind of honor in this type of environment is amazing.
“Honestly, I wish there were five or even 10 players who could get this award. There’s a lot of unsung heroes when you win a tournament. I was really proud of the recognition we were able to get for our team with Madeline and Alyssa on the all-tournament team with me and Aaliyah getting the Heart and Hustle Award. I’m surrounded by really great kids.
“I watch other teams here at this tournament and I can appreciate the work, hustle and talent it took to get them here. I’m very grateful I was on the team that came out on the winning end of things.”
Glenville was led Sunday Tynasia Bunting and Dream Cherry, who both had 17 points. Bunting also had a team-high nine boards. GSU also got 13 points and eight rebounds from Jade Salters.
Bunting and the Pioneers’ Nwando Okigbo were also selected to the all-tournament squad. Rounding out the all-tournament team were Concord’s Skylar Davidson, Frostburg State’s Alanna Tate and West Virginia State’s Baylee Goins.
MEC All-Tournament Team
Leslie Huffman, Fairmont State (Tournament MVP)
Alyssa DeAngelo, Fairmont State
Madeline Huffman, Fairmont State
Nwando Okigbo, Glenville State
Tynasia Bunting, Glenville State
Baylee Goins, West Virginia State
Alanna Tate, Frostburg State
Skylar Davidson, Concord
Commissioner's Heart & Hustle Award: Aaliyah Brunny, Fairmont State
Tournament Highest Scoring Average (2 game min.): Leslie Huffman, Fairmont State (18.6 ppg)