Wheeling, W. Va – On Saturday, the Golden Eagles squared off with the Concord Mountain Lions in the Mountain East Conference Tournament Semifinal. Aside from having to play-in for a chance to get to the tournament, Concord's path to this matchup entailed an 86-83 overtime victory against West Virginia State in the quarterfinal round on Thursday. Charleston handled the Wheeling Cardinals on Thursday 62-51, but they were going to have to play physical against one of the highest rebounding teams in the conference.  
 
The Basics
Location: WesBanco Arena
Score: UC 78, CU 54
Records: UC (23-7, 18-6 MEC), CU (14-17, 9-14 MEC) 
 
How it Happened
By far, this was the most physical Charleston had played all season long. After Charleston won the opening tip, the Golden Eagles would score the first four points of the game after a jump shot from Markyia McCormick and a hard-earned layup underneath from Clarrissa Francis. A Dakota Reeves triple would give Charleston a 7-3 lead over the Mountain Lions just under two minutes into the first quarter. Palacio would maintain the margin with a fast-break turnaround hook shot for the 9-5 lead with 5:44 remaining. If Charleston wanted to win the game today, they were going to have to rebound on all end of the court. They eliminated the second-chance efforts for the Mountain Lions, which was a big reason as to why they found themselves in the semifinal. After three minutes, Sierra Davis would end the game's scoreless drought with a triple and gain an extra possession for Charleston with a steal on the other end, leading to McCormick's driving layup for the 16-7 lead. At the end of one, the Golden Eagles would hold a 19-8 lead. 
 
Even though Charleston has many sharpshooters on their roster, they elected to find most of their points underneath the basket in this contest. Davis, Cardwell, and Trinity Palacio found all of their shots to fall in the paint to add on to the lead. Palacio's layup would give Charleston a 25-15 lead with 6:30 remaining in the half. After the media timeout, McCormick would convert her and-one through heavy contact for her third basket of the game and give Charleston a 28-20 advantage. As physical as Charleston played today, they were able to draw fouls on crucial possessions; more specifically, Dakota Reeves drew many offensive fouls out of the Mountain Lions, giving the Golden Eagles many extra possessions during the half. When the horn sounded, Charleston trotted into the locker room with a 35-22 lead over Concord. 
 
The Golden Eagles would have an electric start to the 3^rd quarter. Palacio would force a very early timeout from Concord after literally ripping the ball out of Concord's hands and putting the nice touch off the glass for easy points. Concord would find points after the timeout, but the Golden Eagles would continue to roll, scoring 18 points in the remainder of the quarter with their 41% shooting percentage from inside the arc. Dakota Reeves would lead the way offensively in the quarter with 10 points, highlighted with two casual shots from deep range. At the end of the third, Charleston held a 56-36 lead and needed one more dominant quarter to get to the MEC Championship. 
There would be no time-wasting from Charleston. Even with the 20-point margin, the Golden Eagles continued with their fast-paced offense in an attempt to put the game out of reach. Aside from the scoreline, a crucial factor that separated the two teams was Charleston's ability to rebound the ball. Through four quarters of action, the Golden Eagles gathered up 47 total rebounds compared to Concord's 36. When it was all said and done, Charleston would hold on for the 78-54 victory and secure their spot in the MEC Championship for the 3^rd year in a row. 
 
Up Next
Charleston will face the Glenville State Pioneers in their 3^rd MEC Championship matchup on March 5^th at 2:00 PM on Sunday.