PHILIPPI, W.Va – The Golden Eagle Women's Basketball team continued their late season push for top three in the Mountain East Conference by defeating Alderson Broaddus 72-61 on Saturday night.

The Basics
Location: Rex Pyles Arena, Philippi, W.Va
Score: UC- 72; ABU- 61
Records: Charleston (17-7, 15-5 MEC) Alderson Broaddus (12-13, 9-11 MEC)

The win gave Women's Basketball sole possession of second place in the Mountain East Conference, just behind No. 1 ranked Glenville State. They improved their overall record to 17-7.

With the Mountain East Conference tournament quickly approaching on March 2^nd , the Golden Eagles will look to carry the momentum into home stretch of the 2021-2022 season.

Clarrissa Francis had her best showing since returning to the team a few weeks ago. She added 16 points and nine rebounds while shooting 70% from the field in just 20 minutes on the court.

Charleston outscored Alderson Broaddus by five points at the end of the first half. The ladies were not shy on the trigger in Saturday's first half. They put up 33 shots from the field while converting on only 12 of those attempts. The slow first half was followed by a more calculated shooting performance in the second half. The fourth quarter saw Charleston convert on 53% of attempts from the field.

UC's long ball game plan that has earned them the highest three-point shooting percentage in the conference was quieted by the Battlers. UC converted only four of their 11 attempts from downtown. One of those threes was made by sharpshooter Dakota Reeves who cemented herself at number three in the all time three point list for Charleston with the bucket.

The Golden Eagles were able to get some key points off the bench from Clarrissa Francis and Abby Lee who accounted for 23 of the 25 points off the bench on the night.

Anastasiia Zakharova added 13 points and seven rebounds while dishing out four assists on offense. She was 7-8 from the charity stripe on the night as well. Charleston tallied 16 second chance points to the Battlers' eight in the contest. At the sound of the final buzzer Charleston would walk away with their fifth straight win.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles will face off against the undefeated and number one team in the country in Glenville State on Wednesday, February 23. It will be senior night in Wehlre Arena so be sure to come to the Arena at 4 p.m. for the ceremony.