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WHEELING -- Ninth-seed West Virginia Wesleyan was eliminated from the MEC tourney in a 66-56 setback to top-seed Fairmont State Thursday night at WesBanco Arena.
Emma Witt fired in 25 points to lead the Lady Bobcats, who ended the season 10-17.
Daveona Hatchell added 12.
The Lady Falcons (24-5) were paced by Leslie Huffman with 19, Katy Darnell with 13 and Alyssa DeAngelo with 11.
W.Va. State 77
Notre Dame 64
It's been six years but West Virginia State's women's basketball team finally finds itself back in the semifinals of the annual Mountain East Conference Tournament.
The second-seeded Yellow Jackets led from start to finish as they cruised to a 77-64 victory over 10th-seeded Notre Dame College here Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the league tourney at WesBanco Arena.
The victory, State's seventh in a row, improved the Yellow Jackets to 20-9 and sets up a meeting Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the semifinals with sixth-seeded Concord. The Mountain Lions eliminated third-seeded Frostburg State Thursday afternoon, 84-69.
As noted, it will be State's first semifinal appearance since 2018. The Yellow Jackets have never played for an MEC Tournament title.
"I'm filled with emotion right now because this group has been with me for so long," veteran West Virginia State coach Charles Marshall said. "We've been to this point a couple of times with this group and we haven't been able to get over the hump.
"They have worked so hard and today it feels like all of their hard work has paid off for this moment. We're not done, but I'm thrilled for them and thrilled for our program. Today we did not come up short."
With the loss Notre Dame College closes its last season with a final record of 11-19. The school announced recently it will close its doors for good at the end of the academic semester.
Concord 84
Frostburg State 69
Sixth-seeded Concord and third-seeded Frostburg State staged a couple of epic battles during the regular season which were decided by a total of a mere three points and both went in favor of the Bobcats.
Thursday afternoon after the first 20 minutes of their quarterfinal round meeting in the annual Mountain Conference Women's Basketball Tournament here at WesBanco Arena it appeared as if the third go-round between the squads would be equally as memorable.
However, the Mountain Lions had other plans and were determined to avoid a sweep by Frostburg in the season series. Trailing by two entering the third quarter, Concord ramped up its defensive pressure in the form of a trapping press which gave the Bobcats some fits for a few minutes and consequently changed the course of the game.
The Mountain Lions forced nine Frostburg turnovers in the third quarter which directly resulted in seven steals, 17 points, a 60-51 lead heading into the final 10 minutes and eventually an 84-69 victory.
"When we go out there and have the right mindset we're a team to be reckoned with," Concord's Jazz Blankenship, who finished with 12 points, said. "We feed off of our defense. Once we started getting stops our offensive got going and we played with a lot more confidence in the second half.
"Being able to switch defenses on them like we did, I think, bothered their legs. We all bought in and were really ready to play in the second half. Not saying we weren't ready in the first half, but early in the second half really turned things around for us."
Once Concord got the lead to nine, Frostburg never got any closer than eight points the rest of the game and that came at the 9:13 mark of the final quarter.
"We've been practicing all week for their press," said Bobcats' coach Jenna Eckleberry.