INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan women’s basketball team lost to West Virginia State 112-58 on the road on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets hit 16 threes and grabbed 32 offensive rebounds as they picked up their 19th win of the season. The Lady Bobcats were forced into 25 turnovers in the loss.
An Emma Witt jumper from just inside the free throw line put the Lady Bobcats on the board first. Shelby Harmeyer answered for WVSU two possessions later with a wing three. Witt scored the Lady Bobcats first eight points on 4-4 shooting from the field, assisted by three different Wesleyan passers. Shelby Genes found Daveona Hatchell on the breakaway right before the under-5 media timeout, tying it up at 10. The Yellow Jackets sped up the pace by getting up 27 shots in the opening quarter, including going 5-12 from three. WVSU led 25-18 at the end of one.
Hatchell opened up the second quarter hitting back-to-back threes. The Yellow Jackets countered with threes of their own, knocking down four in the first five minutes and stretching their lead to 41-26, forcing head coach Brett Vincent to call a timeout. The Lady Bobcats were held scoreless for over six minutes, allowing WVSU to jump out to a 48-28 lead at halftime. Hatchell and Witt combined for 25 of Wesleyan’s 28 first half points.
Genes knocked down her first triple of the game early on in the third quarter to try to spark the Wesleyan offense. Hatchell and Witt also hit a pair of layups to open up the new half. WV State’s tenacious defense picked up, forcing the Lady Bobcats to turn it over and giving the Yellow Jackets transition scores and easy second-chance opportunities at the basket. WVSU used this to bust the game wide open, scoring 32 points in the quarter and extending their lead to 80-43 going into the final quarter.
WV State scored the opening seven points in the first minute of the fourth until an Witt jumper and M’laya Ainsworth three gave the Lady Bobcats their first points of the quarter. The Yellow Jackets reached the 100-point mark for the seventh time this season with 5:48 remaining off of a Destiny Fields make from behind the arc. Kenley Kveton hit her first three of the year and Ariana Harmon scored her first points of the season in the closing minutes of the game.
Harmeyer led all scorers with 23 points and shot 7-8 from three-point range. Fields finished with a double-double, scoring 22 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Ansya Jordan had a near double-double, finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Witt led the Lady Bobcats with 21 points and nine rebounds. Hatchell chimed in with 14 points and grabbed eight boards. Ainsworth knocked down three triples, finishing with nine points.
Wesleyan will be on the road once again on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. when they travel to Athens to face Concord.
