CHARLESTON, W. Va. - Senior night was an action-packed night for the Golden Eagles as they went up against the number one team in the nation, Glenville State University. It was a packed house and post-season hopes were on the line, leading to one of the greatest games of the season.
The Basics
Location: Wehrle Innovation Center
Score: UC- 63 Glenville State - 74
Records: Charleston (17-8, 15-6 MEC) Glenville State (26-0, 21-0 MEC)
How it Happened
When the #1 ranked team in the nation comes to the house on Senior night, you better believe you have to come out fast, and Charleston brought the tempo. The first three baskets from UC were three-pointers. Almost like a broken record, Dakota Reeves started the scoring with a long-range three pointer to take the early lead, followed by a three from Markyia McCormick's Trinity Palacio moments later. After Sierra Davis joined in on the fun with five consecutive points, UC shocked the Pioneers and found themselves up 16-4 midway through the first quarter. Glenville State quickly took over the reins and started to narrow the margin, but at the end of one Charleston had the 18-14 advantage over the best team in the nation.
The second quarter of action contained a lot of hard-earned offensive buckets. Glenville State began to find rhythm on offense and a picked up a handful of turnovers caused by full court press and found themselves up 34-22 with 4 minutes remaining in the half. McCormick wouldn't let the double digit lead last for long as she drained a three pointer just before the shot clock expired. Reeves wanted to follow in her teammates footsteps as she was found all alone in three-point land and did not the rare defensive slipup pass… and then she was found wide open once more and knocked on another triple a minute later. At the end of the half, Charleston found themselves down 33-39.
Zakharova opened the second half with a layup under the basket to jumpstart the offense. The scoring stalled for majority of the opening four minutes of the quarter, but both sides came out of the locker-room with mission to lock down the other squad's attack. McCormick put up a pair of points at the free throw line to narrow the margin to five, not letting any momentum swing for the visiting squad. McCormick then stepped up right at midcourt for UC as she took a hard charge to cause a turnover for the Pioneers. Zakharova found a way to gain two consecutive layups after sprinting full speed down the court and perfecting the "Euro-step" along the way. After a long stretch of layups for Golden Eagles, the crowd rose to their feet as Dakota Reeves sank a three pointer to tie the game at 49-49 with two minutes left in the quarter. Glenville State found themselves in foul trouble allowing for UC to gain some easy buckets at the line. After the Pioneers converted from the line just before the horn, Charleston trailed 55-56 at the end of the third.
The first basket of the final quarter didn't happen until the 7:44 mark after the Pioneers converted on an and-one basket spreading the margin to four. Zakharova took a trip to the line
to keep the margin within five. Glenville State began to convert on a couple of jumpers to increase their lead which then led to them slowing down the pace of play. With 4:19 remaining in the ballgame, Charleston was down 61-67 and needed to find a way to put points on the board. The margin quickly began to spread to nine and the GSU fanbase grew louder and louder as the closing seconds began to be in the midst. Charleston was not able to work any offense going against the nation's best team, and in the end took the 74-63 devastating loss.
Up Next: The Golden Eagles will finish their regular-season at cross-town rival West Virginia State on Saturday February 26th at 2:00 p.m.
