BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan women’s basketball team lost to No. 5 Glenville State on Saturday at home 69-55. The Lady Pioneers were held to 21-68 (31%) from the field and 8-35 (23%) from three but were able to force 31 Lady Bobcat turnovers in the win.
Tor’e Alford put GSU on the board first with a wing three out of the tip. Courtney Wilfong came down a couple possessions later and got the Lady Bobcats started with a midrange jumper. The Lady Pioneers held multiple four-point leads but Imani Jackson’s free throws knotted it up at 12 late in the first quarter. Shelby Genes knocked down a three with a little over a minute left in the quarter to give Wesleyan their first lead at 17-16. Mickayla Perdue hit a layup in the closing seconds to hand Glenville State a 20-19 advantage going into the second.
Genes gave the Lady Bobcats back the lead once again in the first possession of the new quarter with a layup. GSU was able to create a bit of separation, gaining a seven-point lead into the under-5 media timeout. The Lady Pioneers got their lead to as much as eight but back-to-back layups by Emma Witt and Daveona Hatchell cut the Glenville State lead to just 33-29 going into the locker room.
Glenville State’s Mickayla Perdue opened up the second half scoring eight-straight points to put them back up 10. Hatchell connected on a pair of layups to keep Lady Bobcats in range. Perdue hit another three to make it 46-33 but a quick 7-0 run put the Lady Bobcats right back in it. Glenville State answered with a run of their own, finishing the quarter on a 9-1 run to make it 55-41 heading into the final quarter.
The Lady Pioneers largest lead reached 16 off of free throw makes from Breanna Campbell. Witt found space down low for a layup with a little over four minutes left in the game to make it a 12-point game. Alford hit a three the next possession to shatter any type of momentum Wesleyan had to close the game out.
Perdue led the Lady Pioneers with 21 points and knocked down four three-pointers. Breanna Campbell finished her night with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Hya Haywood was the final Lady Pioneer to score double-digits with 12.
Witt had her fourth-straight game of 20 or more points as she finished with 21. Genes aided with 11 points and Hatchell added eight points. Imani Jackson had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists in her last home game.
Wesleyan returns to action on Wednesday when they travel to Fairmont State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
