WHEELING, W. Va. - The Frostburg State Women's basketball team earned their first ever Mountain East Conference tournament victory in their first ever MEC tournament appearance as they defeated Davis & Elkins 70-64 on Wednesday afternoon in WesBanco Arena.
Graduate Shelby Funchess got scrappy under the basket to start the game putting in back-to-back baskets for Frostburg. Junior Mackenzie Freeze then took advantage of a Bobcat offensive rebound to knock down the first three of the game for FSU. Midway through the first quarter, freshman Emilee Weakley came up with a big steal and would convert at the other end of the court on a routine jump shot before capitalizing on another Senator turnover to drop in a fast-break layup to make the score 14-8 in favor of the Bobcats. With two minutes left in the first, senior Ciara Thomas and Weakley extended Frostburg's lead by each knocking down a pair of free throws before Funchess knocked down a jump shot of her own to end the quarter and extend FSU's lead to 10.
The Bobcats came out aggressive to start the second quarter as senior Arianna Briggs-Hall grabbed her own offensive rebound for a successful put back. Junior Rhiana Hall would then get her first points of the afternoon connecting on a three-point shot from behind the arc. Frostburg once again capitalized on a Senator turnover as Briggs-Hall powered her way to the basket helping FSU jump out to a 14 point lead just two minutes into the second quarter. Both teams then found themselves in a scoring drought, trading missed shots back and forth before Briggs-Hall dropped in two more layups and Hall connected on another deep ball from three allowing FSU to lead 34-27 at the break.
Weakley opened up the third quarter with an easy jumper before the Bobcats would be held scoreless for over two minutes, allowing the Senators to tie the game at 38. Funchess worked the Senators defense in the paint to drop in two more layups for the Bobcats, who would find themselves down by three with 3:35 left to go in the quarter. Briggs-Hall gave Frostburg the momentum they were looking for as she powered her way to the basket for a tough layup and a three point play. Both teams traded free throws before Thomas converted a layup to bring FSU within one. D&E was able to connect on two more jumpers before Weakley connected on a second chance layup to make the score 52-49 in favor of the Senators with one more quarter left to play.
The Senators would strike first to open the fourth as they would convert an easy layup off a Frostburg turnover. D&E would jump out to a seven point lead before Hall hit a jumper at the 8:45 mark for the Bobcats first points of the quarter. Both teams would go scoreless for over a minute and a half, before the Bobcats would go on a 12-0 run and keep the Senators scoreless for another four and a half minutes. D&E responded by scoring two straight baskets, but found themselves down 61-60 with 2:11 left to go. An easy layup by Briggs-Hall and a silencer three from Weakley let Frostburg build their lead to six with just under a minute left to play. The Senators were forced to play the foul game as Hall and Funchess both converted a pair of free throws to seal the 70-64 victory for the Bobcats.
Weakley led the way with 24 points along with eight rebounds. Briggs-Hall finished with 15 points and seven rebounds as Funchess was right behind her in scoring with 14.
With the victory, Frostburg improves to 9-20 on the year and advances to the quarterfinals of the MEC tournament. D&E concludes their season with a final record of 7-20. The Bobcats will stay in Wheeling to take on the #1 seed Glenville State on Thursday, March 2 at 6 PM in WesBanco Arena. For more information and updates, please visit frostburgsports.com.
