SALEM, W. Va. – The Frostburg State women's basketball team dropped a road game against Salem on Saturday afternoon, falling by a score of 57-51.
The Bobcats broke the ice when junior Rhiana Hall found senior Arianna Briggs-Hall on a slick bounce pass through the paint for an open layup. Halfway through the first quarter, the game was at 5-4 FSU until freshman Emilee Weakley picked off a pass at the top of the arc and finished at the basket while picking up an and-one to push the lead to four. Salem tied things up at 8-8, but senior Maggie Sharp hit a floater off the glass to put FSU up by two, eventually heading into the first break at 12-11.
The second quarter would start with the FSU defense keeping the Tigers off the board early, as a pair of made layups from Weakley and Hall grew the lead to 16-11. A slashing Briggs-Hall added another layup, pushing the Bobcat lead to seven. Briggs-Hall would then throw a great pass to an open Sharp under the basket for her second basket of the game for a 22-17 advantage. SU responded with their first three of the game to get within two, as the teams exchanged baskets heading to the half with FSU up 24-22.
Frostburg came out of the halftime break with great ball movement leading to Briggs-Hall finding a wide open Sharp behind the three-point line. Briggs-Hall would score herself in the paint and follow it up with two makes from the charity stripe on the next trip down with FSU now leading 31-26. The Bobcats knocked down two straight threes, growing the lead to nine at 37-28. The Tigers would close the gap to 39-33, as the end of the quarter would be a battle of free throws ending with a score of 44-36 FSU.
The Tigers would start the fourth off with back-to-back threes and a 44-42 game. After good defense from both sides, Hall knocked down a jumper that was followed by another Salem three to get SU within one at 48-47. Hall would come back down and make a pair of foul shots to push the Bobcat lead to three. Salem would hit a three at the three-minute mark to take their first lead of the game at 52-51. Down late in the fourth, the Bobcats were forced to foul and could only manage one made basket in the quarter, giving Salem the 57-51 win.
Weakley led the team with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while also adding a pair of steals and a block. Briggs-Hall had a team-high three assists to go along with eight boards and her own block.
With the loss, Frostburg falls to 3-9 while the Tigers improve to 6-10 on the year. The Bobcats return to action on Wednesday, January 4 for a home contest against Notre Dame (Ohio), with tip-off set at 5:30 p.m. Information and updates will be posted at frostburgsports.com.
