Box Score
GLENVILLE, W.Va. - The battle between the top two three-point shooting teams in the nation lived up to the hype as both teams erased late deficits before Glenville State sank a shot with five seconds remaining to secure an 87-84 victory over the University of Charleston, Monday.

With both teams playing a similar style of aggressive play there were large point swings throughout the first half with each team owning eight point leads prior to the midway point of the opening stanza. A sequence of five consecutive offensive rebounds with four minutes remaining in the half started a run that saw the home-standing Pioneers (7-2, 4-1) run out to a nine point advantage.

The larger lineup of GSC held a plus-24 rebounding advantage in the first half to account for 19 second chance points, but it was the play of Ashleigh Fossett that propelled the Pioneers into the locker room with a 46-36 advantage. Fossett came into the afternoon averaging 11.6 points per game and only a 25 percent three-point shooter, but in the first half against Charleston she accounted for 6-of-7 GSC treys for 18 points in just 11 minutes of play.

Just as Fossett was vital to Glenville State in the opening 20 minutes, Jessi Cowden (Tomball, TX) took the same role for UC in the final 20 minutes. Cowden rebounded through a rough shooting stretch to catch fire in the final 10 minutes of play as she accounted for 22 points down the stretch to put Charleston in contention within the final seconds.

Glenville State kept the University of Charleston just out of reach for the first five minutes of the second half, before Chelsea Brumby (Chandler, AZ) found the bottom of the net from three point land to get the deficit under double-digits at 73-66. Cowden then followed Brumby for eight-straight points to deadlock the game at 74-74 with 6:50 remaining to play.

The ever dangerous tempo of the game allowed GSC plenty of looks at the basket as they continued to own the boards over UC. Glenville State extended the lead again to six points with 3:13 left in the game. A jumper by Tianni Kelly (Pickerington, OH) was followed by a steal and layup by Brumby to get within two points with 2:11 on the clock. 

Two transitions down the court for each team ended with no points before Chrissy Keir (Savreville, NJ) got open in the lane for a jumper that knotted the score at 84-84 leaving just 37 ticks to play.

GSC setup their final possession and nailed a contested three-pointer with 5.5 showing on the game clock to not leave much time for the Golden Eagles to force overtime. UC got a look at the basket but the shot was blocked on a questionable no call as a Pioneer defender ran through Nichole Perry (Poseyville, IN) as she shot what would have been the equalizer to set the final tally at 87-84.

A plus-24 rebounding advantage for Glenville State led to 93 shots, while Charleston was able to get 83 shots up. Fossett led all scorers in the game for GSC with 29 points.

For Charleston, Cowden set a career-high by scoring 25 points, while LeAnne Ross (Marietta, OH) followed just behind at 17 points and six rebounds. Brumby, Kelly and Keir all played key roles in the second half comeback with each registering a 10 point scoring effort with Kelly owning a team-high eight rebounds.

UC returns to the court on Saturday, Dec. 15 when they play host to WVIAC opponent and pre-season conference favorite Fairmont State at 4:00 pm.