Charleston Leader

On Wednesday night, the Charleston Golden Eagles faced a very talented Fairmont State women's basketball squad. Both teams came into this one undefeated in MEC play and one loss overall, with Fairmont State's lone loss coming from West Virginia University at the beginning of the season. 
 
The Basics
Location: Joe Retton Arena
Score: UC 71, FSU 78
Records: UC (4-2, 2-1 MEC), FSU (5-1, 3-0 MEC) 
 
How it Happened
Despite being unable to hit from beyond the arc in the opening quarter, Charleston would fuel a consistent lead with points from their close-range shots, shooting 42% (8-19) from the field. The scoring was well distributed throughout the lineup as points came from five different Charleston players. Fairmont State's first eight points of the game would come from the free throw line, which meant that the Golden Eagles were going to have to be wary of potential foul trouble later on in the matchup. The Golden Eagles' defense would allow for them to head into the second quarter with a 16-12 lead over the Falcons, but they were going to need to find more points if they wanted to spread the margin. 
 
It took nearly two and a half minutes for either side to get a shot to fall in the second period, but Fairmont State would end the drought with a Jertaya Hall jumper to cut the Charleston lead in half. 30 seconds later, Abby Lee ended a drought for the Golden Eagles and scored the first Charleston triple of the ballgame. The squad would continue to find their points inside the perimeter with tough baskets coming from Sierra Davis underneath the basket. With the Falcons continuously struggling on offense, the Golden Eagles would head into the locker room with a 32-25 lead. 
 
Dakota Reeves would drain two three-pointers to begin the second half, accompanied with Maggie Stephenson's jumper in the paint. Sierra Davis would continue to play tough through traffic as she converted her "and-one" play under the basket putting the Golden Eagles up 43-32 with 5:18 remaining in the quarter. Trinity Palacio would have the final point of the quarter after connecting at the line with 21 seconds left to play. The Falcons hurried to put up a final second shot to take any momentum into the fourth quarter, but Clarrissa Francis had other plans in mind as she sent back Alyssa DeAngelo's shot to the floor and the Golden Eagles would take a 48-37 lead into the fourth period. 
 
Charleston extended their lead right away to 16 points with a Palacio jumper and a Reeves downtown triple after just one minute into the quarter, but the Falcons began to slowly claw back. With 1:39 remaining in the ballgame, Fairmont State had brought the margin to just five points. In the bonus, the Falcons were able to convert at the free throw line and make it a one possession game for the first time since the second quarter, and one possession was all it took. In the final seconds, Alyssa DeAngelo would connect on a prayer from the beyond the arc to tie the game at 63-63, sending the two teams into overtime. 
 
From then on, the Falcons had all the momentum. After two free throws from Markyia McCormick, Fairmont State would take the lead with another DeAngelo triple with 3:44 remaining in overtime. The Falcons then scored a crushing five points, giving them the 71-65 lead with little time left to play. They would hold on for the 78-71 win, coming all the way back from a 16-point deficit. Alyssa DeAngelo was the deciding factor in this one as she finished with 26 points and five rebounds. Not only was she the reason the game went into overtime, but she was the reason they won in overtime, going a perfect 8-8 from the line when it mattered the most. 

Original source can be found here