— By Duane Cochran, For Mountain East.org
Women’s
FROSTBURG STATE 78, Point Park 68: Seventh-seeded Frostburg State used an impressive 26-0 run over the final three minutes of the second quarter and the first 3:30 of the third period to wipe out a six-point deficit and roll to a victory over 10th-seeded Point Park in the opening round of the annual Mountain East Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament at WesBanco Arena.
The win improved Frostburg to 15-14 overall and puts the Bobcats in Thursday’s quarterfinals against second-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan (18-6) at noon.
Point Park finished its season at 8-19.
Trailing 31-25 with 3:45 to play in the second quarter, the Bobcats went to work. Led by Sophie Nichols and Laekyn Flynn, Frostburg closed the first half with a 14-0 spurt to take a 39-31 lead into the locker room.
Nichols finished the game with 16 points, while Flynn added 10. Together they combined for 10 of the Bobcats’ 14 points on the game-changing second-quarter burst.
“I remember thinking on the court that we needed to keep doing the little things like get every loose ball and every rebound,” said Frostburg forward Jenna Muha, who finished with 10 rebounds and 16 points, 14 of which came in the first two quarters. “Our game plan was to go after everything hard and saying that at that point settled us down and got us refocused. Once we did that we put our foot on the gas and didn’t stop.”
In the third quarter the Bobcats’ Julie Spinelli drained a 3-pointer on her team’s first possession to ignite a 12-0 run which pushed Frostburg’s lead to 20 at 51-31. Spinelli, who shook off an early ankle injury in the game, scored seven of her team’s 12 points during that span.
“We’re a team that never gives up whether we’re up by nine or down by nine,” said Spinelli, who scored 15 points, 13 of which came in the final two quarters. “We give it our all no matter what. We don’t take any team lightly. At that point it was like Jenna said it was foot on the gas and keep going. This is the playoffs, the tournament and we knew we had to keep going.”
WEST LIBERTY 78, West Virginia State 72: It certainly wasn’t easy, but for the first time since 2022 West Liberty’s women’s basketball team garnered a victory in the annual Mountain East Conference Tournament.
The ninth-seeded Hilltoppers held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by eighth-seeded West Virginia State to record a hard-fought 78-72 win.
The victory improved West Liberty to 11-18 on the year and puts the Hilltoppers in Thursday’s quarterfinals against top-seeded Glenville State at 6 p.m.
“It was a really hard-fought win,” West Liberty coach Kyle Cooper said. “You really have to give West Virginia State credit. I thought we kept getting control of the game at multiple times and they just kept coming back at us. Hats off to the fight they showed. They’re a physical team, a tough out and they’re talented.
“Flipping to us, I thought we showed tremendous resilience when they kept coming at us. The reality of it is there’s been times this year when we haven’t shown that resilience. So for us, it’s an opportunity with a new season starting with the tournament to step up and show just what we’re capable of. I’m really proud of our group. People really don’t understand the adversity this team has faced this season.”
Thirty minutes into Wednesday’s contest West Liberty appeared in control leading State by 13 with 10 minutes to play. The Yellow Jackets, however, had other plans. State opened the final quarter with a quick 10-0 run in a span of just 2:18 to close the Hilltoppers’ lead to a mere three points at 56-53.
On this day, though, West Liberty had the answers and those answers in the fourth quarter were mostly in the form of free throws. The Yellow Jackets put West Liberty at the foul line 26 times in the game’s final 7:20 and the Hilltoppers made good on 18 of those 26 chances to help keep State at bay. West Liberty only made two field goals in the final quarter.
The catalyst for the Hilltoppers in the fourth quarter was senior guard Anna Lucarelli who scored 10 of the her team’s final 22 points, including an 8-of-10 showing at the line in the fourth quarter. Lucarelli finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.
“It’s a great feeling knowing I’m confident going to the line in those situations,” Lucarelli said. “I struggled a little bit at the line earlier in the season so I just went back to the basics. We have a little shooting court in our backyard at home and just visualizing myself out there with my mom or dad rebounding for me helps. It’s something I’ve done since I was old enough to touch a basketball. Having that mindset there’s no pressure. It’s just muscle memory and confidence.”
The loss marks the first time since 2021 that West Virginia State has not made it to the tournament quarterfinals.
Men’s
FROSTBURG STATE 93, West Virginia State 85: MEC Player of the Year Trey Simmons helped Frostburg State earn its first tournament victory with a win over West Virginia State at WesBanco Arena.
Frostburg State, the seven seed, improves to 15-14 on the year, while West Virginia State’s season ends with a record of 8-21. The Bobcats will return to action on Friday at noon when they take on the second-seeded Falcons of Fairmont State at WesBanco Arena.
Simmons, who scored a game-high 36 points (the seventh most points in a game in MEC tournament history) was part of trio that included Kyle Whippen (25) and DJ Daniel (20) that accounted for 81 points on the night.
“I thought we started out slow, then had a nice run through the middle part of the first half,” remarked Frostburg State head coach Zach Thomsen.
The Bobcats opened the scoring with a three-point field goal from Simmons, before a 10-3 run by the Hornets gave them a 10-6 advantage with 16:04 remaining in the first half.
From that point, Frostburg State went on a 36-14 run over the next 12:02 to give FSU a 42-24 lead with 4:13 remaining in the first half. The run to open their largest lead of the night at 18 points included individual runs of 14-0 and 14-4.
“I am proud of our guys for battling back,” said West Virginia State Head Coach Bryan Poore. “Frostburg got going in the first half, and it looked bleak, but our guys stuck with it and battled back to give us a chance down the stretch.”
DAVIS & ELKINS 75, Point Park 73: Davis & Elkins advanced to the quarterfinals of the Mountain East tournament on Vegas Evans’ turnaround jump shot with 27 seconds remaining to give the Senators a victory over Point Park.
The final game of the opening night of the Mountain East Conference Tournament presented by The Health plan came down to the wire in a contest that had 15 lead changes and 13 ties, with neither team leading by more than eight points.
With the victory, Davis & Elkins improves to 10-19 on the season and will advance to face the top-seeded West Liberty Hilltoppers on Friday at 6 p.m. at WesBanco Arena.
“I thought it was a gritty victory,” said D&E head coach Daniel Harris. “I thought our guys stayed the course, especially with them starting out hot and getting up early. I am proud of this group. If you look at our season, we had a lot of games like that which didn’t go our way. It was a team effort. I am happy, and we are going to celebrate tonight and then get ready for [West Liberty on] Friday.”
The Senators had four players score in double digits, led by Dontrell Jenkins’ 19 points. He was joined in double-figures by Matthew Gray (17), Vegas Evans (12), and Nnadozie Okoroji (11). Malachi Hampton was key on the boards, leading all players with 13 rebounds. Point Park was led by Aiden Anderson, who notched his sixth double-double of the season with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Davis & Elkins finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field, hitting on 29-of-64 attempts and 41 percent from deep to make up for a difference of 12 fewer free throws than Point Park. The Pioneers shot well for most of the night, but only connected one of their final nine shots, allowing D&E to come-from-behind late to win a game that the Pioneers led for over 24 minutes.