CHARLESTON —
Six minutes into Wednesday night’s quarterfinal round West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament game between third-seeded Fairmont State and 11th-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan, it looked as if the outcome might be similar to the one the teams had during their only regular-season meeting — a 20-point Lady Bobcats win.
But on this night, Fairmont State had other plans.
Trailing 12-4, the Lady Falcons erupted on a 31-10 run over the course of the final 13:40 of the opening half to build a 13-point halftime lead en route to a 65-54 victory.
“The first time we played them they killed us by 20 points, so that gave us a lot of motivation to come out tonight and play hard,” said FSU senior point guard Kaitlin Snyder, who finished with 15 points and became just the 12th player in conference history and only the second in Fairmont State history to go over 2,000 points in her career. “We had a rough start, but we settled down and got it going on defense. That’s where it started for us.
“We didn’t want to go home. That’s the bottom line. We shot well. We played well as a team, executed what we needed to execute and ended with a win.”
Snyder, who also had seven rebounds and six assists in last night’s victory, now has 2,008 career points. Fairmont State’s all-time leader is Kristen Gattuso (2001-05), who finished her career with 2,041 points.
The victory improved the Lady Falcons to 21-9 on the year and sets up a semifinal meeting Friday with second-seeded West Liberty at 1 p.m. The Hilltoppers (21-7) reached the semis by virtue of an 88-87 double-overtime victory over Shepherd. FSU and West Liberty split their regular-season meetings.
After the rocky start, Fairmont hit on all cylinders in Wednesday’s victory over the Lady Bobcats. The Lady Falcons shot 49 percent from the field (24-of-49), out-rebounded Wesleyan 41-34 and forced the Lady Bobcats to shoot 31.9 percent from the floor (22-of-69).
Five Lady Falcons finished in double figures in the victory, led by Briana Welch’s game-high 18 points. The senior guard, who is battling illness, was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field in the win and went 4-of-4 at the foul line against her former teammates. She also grabbed seven rebounds.
“We talked a lot about the Michael Jordan syndrome where if you’re a little bit sick or a lot sick you tend to take that edge off of the roughness and let the game come to you,” said FSU coach Steve McDonald. “When you let the game come to you and you’re good players, you usually play well, and Bri did that tonight.”
Welch agreed.
“I’m not 100 percent, but I tried to give it my all tonight,” said Welch, who scored 12 of her points in the second half to help FSU build a 61-34 lead before Wesleyan rallied late to make the final score respectable. “I tried to get other people open first, and that’s kind of what allowed me to be open.”
Hailey Garrett posted her team-leading 12th double-double performance of the year to aid in the victory. She finished with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Fairmont also got 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists from senior Tiffany Nicholson and 10 points, four assists and three boards off the bench from sophomore Hallie Gunnoe.
“Like Kaitlin said, we turned things around tonight on the defensive end,” said Nicholson. “We got out on their shooters and held them to one shot on a lot of their possessions by hitting the glass hard. Once we were able to do that, we got out in transition and got some points on fast breaks. We’re a better team when we can run and when we share the ball, and we did that tonight pretty well.”
West Virginia Wesleyan, the defending WVIAC Tournament champions, finished the season at 9-18.
“I thought we’d come out tonight and be more competitive,” said Wesleyan coach Jackie Devane. “We got down early and couldn’t find our shots, and then it showed on the defensive end. We didn’t play very good defense.”
The Lady Bobcats were led by Brittany Williams, who came off the bench and finished with 15 points and five rebounds. She was the lone Wesleyan player to reach double figures in the scoring column in the game.
Fairmont State Sports
Lady Falcons top Wesleyan
FSU to face ’Toppers in Friday’s semis
- Fairmont State Sports
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FSU, MVB team up for successful tournament
The Falcons and MVB paired to complete th 21st annual MVB-Fairmont State Athletic Association Golf Tournament at the Bridgeport Country Club on Friday.
Fairmont State’s mission during the event was to sell out, so thar FSU could raise as much money as possible for the athletic department. -
Cobb named Atlantic Player of the Year
Fairmont State’s Chelsea Cobb was named the Daktronics Atlantic Region Player of the Year and outfielder Holly Frampton was a first team all-region selection. Freshman Courtney Iacobacci was a second team all-region selection.
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Three Falcons earn All-WVIAC honors
Thee Fairmont State University baseball players earned All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors, the league announced Wednesday.
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FSU sweeps major WVIAC softball honors
Fairmont State University’s softball program took home all four major postseason awards given out by the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
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Caridi challenges FSU to ‘be brave’
Tony Caridi’s message Saturday evening to Fairmont State University’s student athletes, coaches, administration, alumni and friends was simple, yet very compelling, especially during this time of change in Falcon athletics.
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Falcons fall short in tourney championship
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Falcons, State to clash for softball title
Fairmont State University and West Virginia State softball teams will clash today for the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship.
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COLUMN: Davis, Monroe set to lead FSU
As early impressions go, Garrett Davis could not have made more of a favorable one in the eyes of Jason Woodman.
Woodman, Fairmont State’s first-year head football coach and a Marion County native, certainly knew about the senior middle linebacker before he even took the gig last December. -
Falcon ‘D’ shines in 40-18 win: PHOTOS
As spring games go, Fairmont State University’s annual Maroon-White contest Thursday evening at Duvall-Rosier Field ran pretty much to form.
Using a modified scoring system that awarded points to the defense for turnovers and stops, the Falcons’ Maroon (defensive unit) came up with three turnovers and a number of stops to roll to a 40-18 victory over the White (offensive unit) in front of more than 500 fans eager to get their first glimpse of the new-look Falcons. -
N.C. point guard signs with Falcons
Fairmont State might have its point guard of the future.
Second-year head coach Jerrod Calhoun announced his first signing for the 2013-14 season on Thursday, as the program welcomed North Carolina standout Caleb Davis into the Falcon family. - More Fairmont State Sports Headlines
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