WHEELING, W.Va- The matchup between the No. 2 seed Golden Eagles and the No. 3 seed West Liberty Hilltoppers was sure to be an exciting matchup. With regional rankings hanging in the balance the Golden Eagles were able to squeeze past the Hilltoppers with a seven point 72-65 win.
 
The Basics
Location: WesBanco Arena- Wheeling, W.Va
Score: UC-72, WLU-65
Records: Charleston (20-8, 16-6 MEC) West Liberty (21-8, 15-6 MEC)
 
How it Happened
 
Right from the opening tip both teams ramped up their energy compared to previous games in the tournament. The early part of the contest was the Palacio show. Trinity Palacio swiped two steals in the first two minutes while making a layup on the second possession the Golden Eagles held.
 
Palacio would tally five of the first eight points in the contest. After a free throw by Audrey Tingle at the 6:40 mark the teams would remain scoreless for over three minutes. The Hilltoppers extended their lead to 5 with a minute remaining in the first quarter as the Golden Eagles struggled off the glass and were outrebounded 12-4 in the quarter. At the end of the first it would be 19-11 Hilltoppers.
 
The second quarter saw Charleston draw almost dead even with the Hilltoppers in shooting percentage. The Golden Eagles held a percentage of 41.2% to 40% by West Liberty. The biggest difference in the second quarter was rebounding. The Golden Eagles outrebounded the Hilltoppers 10 to seven with Jamia Nesmith grabbing four of those. Charleston would enter the locker room at halftime on a run that was topped off by a pull up jumper from Markyia McCormick at the buzzer.
 
Coming out of the break Charleston needed to ensure they kept their pressure up and they did just that. They were able to quiet the crowd in the third quarter by draining 47% of their field goals with three of those coming from long range. The Hilltoppers were red hot from downtown in the third period as Karly McCutcheon knocked two threes early in the quarter to the delight of the West Liberty faithful. Markyia McCormick sunk two big time three pointers that extended the Golden Eagle lead to eight with 1:41 left in the period. Charleston continued to make a consorted effort off the glass in the third grabbing 13 rebounds in the period. Charleston outscored the Hilltoppers 25-12 in the third quarter to the tune of a 47% FG percentage.
 
The fourth quarter was when things started to get interesting. The Golden Eagles seemed to struggle to maintain their lead as West Liberty just wouldn't go away. The Hilltoppers fired up their crowd with eight unanswered points spanning from 4:16 to 2:41 in the final period of action. The run forced a timeout by coach Tianni Kelly as she would talk to the ladies to attempt to stunt the momentum of the Hilltoppers. The timeout would work as just two possessions later Trinity Palacio would find Abby Lee with a bounce pass underneath the net that would stretch the lead back to five. In the final few minutes, the Golden Eagles took car of business by making 10 of their final 12 free throws in the quarter.
 
After the game Coach Kelly said, "I'm extremely proud of the way we played…First off we were -02 against them in the regular season so to come out with the "W" is big. But also the implications of the national tournament – they were ranked above us because of the head-to-head matchups."
 
The semifinal win gives the ladies their third
 
Up Next
The ladies are headed to the MEC Tournament final at 2 p.m. against the number one team in the country in Glenville State University.