Wheeling, W.Va. – #3 Charleston defeated #1 Glenville State on the Championship game of the Mountain East Conference tournament.
 
 
The Basics:
Location: WesBanco Arena
Score: UC 48, GSU 43
Records: UC 21-10 (14-6 MEC) Glenville State 24-6 (16-4 MEC)
 
How it Happened:
The championship Sunday contest between the #1 seed Glenville State and the #3 seed Charleston State began with UC winning the tip but it was Glenville who struck first going 2-2 from the free-throw line. The first five minutes of play were physical with both teams committing several fouls, Glenville holding the lead at the media timeout, 10-6 with 4:02 left in the first quarter. Ksenija Metric and Livia O'Dea hit back-to-back threes highlighted by key defensive stops to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the afternoon 12-10. The Golden Eagles continued to battle hard, finishing the first quarter with a 17-13 lead over the Pioneers.
 
Charleston played tough defense to start the second quarter, pulling down eight rebounds, allowing the Golden Eagles to extend their lead to eleven, ahead 26-15 at the under-five media timeout. The teams continued to battle, trading buckets up and down the court, but Charleston would head to the locker room with the lead 30-23 over Glenville State at halftime.
 
The third quarter started just as anticipated, action packed as both teams traded buckets back and forth. The score was still in favor of UC at the 5:00 minute mark in the third quarter, Charleston leading 35-29. Paris Stokes then went 3-3 from the charity stripe after getting fouled taking a shot beyond the arc. The Pioneers then began to build some momentum, cutting the UC lead to just two, Charleston leading 38-36 with 1:16 left in the third. The score would remain the same as the buzzer sounded to end the quarter.
 
After almost two scoreless minutes in the fourth quarter, Glenville State finally broke the drought with a made free throw to bring the score within one. At the 6:50 mark, Bridget Womber put the Golden Eagles back on the board with a made layup and on the next possession Livia O'Dea added to it with a made layup of her own to bring the score to 42-37 in favor of UC. The game was coming down to the wire and an untimely foul at 1:45 from Bridget Womber sent the Pioneers to the free throw line where they went 2-2 to bring the game back within one-point. Womber responded well as she came up with a huge with 42 seconds left, giving the Golden Eagles a three-point advantage over Glenville State. The teams then headed to the benches for a timeout and out of the timeout Bridget Womber came up big again with a defensive board to give her team possession with 23.1 seconds left on the clock. Livia O'Dea then scored the dagger, scoring a layup with 10.1 seconds left, a five-point lead over Glenville. The Pioneers threw up a three-ball but Ksenija Metric grabbed the 59^th board of the game for Charleston, forcing Glenville to foul with 2.9 seconds left in the contest. The Golden Eagles would hold the lead and take the championship trophy with a score of 48-43.
 
Up Next:
Charleston earns the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament and will await the selection show this evening to see where they will travel.