Frostburg, Md. – The Golden Eagles took the three hour and fourteen-minute bus trip to Maryland to face the Frostburg State Bobcats for a Wednesday night MEC Women's Basketball matchup. Charleston was looking to bounce back after suffering just their fourth loss of the year to West Virginia State just four days prior. 
 
The Basics
Location: Bobcat Arena
Score: UC 70, FSU 62
Records: UC (15-4, 10-3 MEC), FSU (5-14, 3-10 MEC) 
 
How it Happened
Although Charleston would convert more shots in the opening period, Frostburg State would take 11 shots from the foul line and connect on nine of them to maintain a margin over the Golden Eagles. Charleston extended their lead to as much as six points after Dakota Reeves converted the "and-one" play on a hard layup in the paint. Emilee Weakley would turn on the jets for the Bobcats as she knocked home two consecutive triples from deep range to tie the game at 13-13 with 5:09 remaining. The lead would bounce back-and-forth between the two squads, but the Bobcats would end the quarter with the 21-19 advantage after an Arianna Briggs-Hall layup before the horn. 
 
Haley Moore's quick jumper to tie the game at 21-21 at the start of the second quarter would be short-lived as Maggie Sharp answered with a shot from beyond the arc to give the Bobcats the one-score advantage. They would stretch their lead to 37-30 with a two-minute 6-1 run. The Golden Eagles would put up 22 total shot attempts in the period, but only found eight to go. The squad would also go three-pointless for the second period as they would miss on five attempts from three-point land. Trinity Palacio's layup before the break would bring the Golden Eagles to within one, but the Bobcats trotted into the locker room with a 37-36 lead over Charleston. 
 
Palacio would pick up right where she left off in the first half and push Charleston ahead with a layup from underneath, the first bucket scored for any team in the opening three minutes of the half. Despite taking the first points of the half, the Golden Eagles would shoot 33% from the field and only formulate 12 points on offense in the third quarter, compared to Frostburg State's 15 that allowed for them to cushion their lead. The three-point drought would continue for Charleston as another five attempts were put on rim but none would go. Frostburg State maintained a four-point lead over the Golden Eagles heading into the final quarter of action. 
 
Charleston elected to use the last ten minutes of the game to dominate on both ends of the court and put the game to rest. After trailing for majority of the game, the Golden Eagles went on to put up 22 points in the fourth quarter while holding the Bobcats to just ten on the other end, allowing for them to eliminate the deficit and add on to their lead. One of the more valuable moments of the game was Sierra Davis' three pointer that gave Charleston a three-point lead with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Abby Lee and Palacio would add on mid-range jumpers to extend the lead to a crushing seven points. The squad would be fouled numerous times and clutch free-throw shooting would be the decider of this one as Charleston hung on for the 70-62 victory over Frostburg State. 
 
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will have a tough test on Saturday at home as the Fairmont State Falcons come to the Wehrle Innovation Center on January 28^th at 2:00 PM. Charleston dropped the first match in the season series and will look to return the favor at home.