FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Women's Basketball team fell just shy of an upset of No. 22 Fairmont State on Saturday afternoon, coming to 92-82 finish in overtime. 
 
Prior to the game, Frostburg celebrated their five amazing seniors of the program, honoring Sarah Shamdeen, Taylor Smith, Jasmine Johnson, Harley Herndon, and Emilee Weakley for their time in a Bobcat uniform.   
 
Fairmont got the game rolling with a layup underneath off the jump ball, with Weakley getting things going on offense for Frostburg with a layup of her own.  The Falcons knotted a three on their next time down, jumping in front 7-2 before Weakley put the game at 7-3 after an offensive tip-in.  Smith got in on the scoring action, seeing a layup of her own, with Shamdeen tying the game up at eight off a bucket in the pain.  A close two from Fairmont soared them back in front quickly, until Shamdeen sunk a triple from the outside to give the Bobcats their first advantage of the game.  The Falcons answered right back with a three of their own, moving back in front 15-11.  Frostburg rallied for five consecutive points to jump back in front 16-15, as Weakley traded scores with Fairmont for the next minute.  Smith moved the Bobcats in front 20-17, as Weakley and sophomore Alanna Tate kept Frostburg in the lead 24-22 after the first. 
 
The Falcons quickly took a 27-24 lead to take over the second, as sophomore Grace Middleton fed freshman Julie Spinelli for her first basket of the game for Frostburg's first points of the quarter.  Fairmont advanced their lead to six, as the Bobcats went silent for almost three minutes.  Spinelli then converted an and-one to get the momentum back on Frostburg's side, as a layup from Tate underneath the hoop brought the Bobcats back within one at a 32-31 game.  The Falcons racked up a duo of scores to jump back on top by five, as Frostburg sparked for a 9-0 run to take control 40-36 with 3:22 left in the half.  Fairmont took the next four points, quickly seeing a 40-40 tie, as Shamdeen laid in the final points of the half to put the Bobcats in front 42-41 at the break. 
 
Both teams started off slow to open up in play the third, with both squads struggling to put the ball in the basket, and Johnson earning a block on the defensive end.  Over two minutes in both teams got on the board, with the Falcons hitting a three and Spinelli seeing another and-one opportunity for a 45-44 Bobcat lead.  Fairmont moved in front 48-45 over the next minute, as Johnson put one in underneath to get the Bobcats within one.  The Falcons started to roll on offense around the six minute mark, knotting a trio of threes to increase their lead to 57-47.  Fairmont continued to take over, then putting in a fastbreak layup off a steal, followed by another three from behind the arc to go up 62-47.  Weakley sunk two free throws for Frostburg to stop the scoring drought for the Bobcats, but the Falcons put up two free throws of their own to get the points right back.  Weakley and Tate took back-to-back buckets to get the game to 64-53, but Fairmont laid in the final points of the third for a 66-53 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter. 
 
The Bobcats came out ready to get back in the game in the fourth, taking the first seven points to get within six right off the bat.  The Falcons sunk a three two minutes into the quarter to go up by nine, as Middleton sparked a pair of baskets for Frostburg, followed by Weakley laying in one as well to put the score at 71-66.  Fairmont added four points to their score as time went on, but Spinelli and Weakley combined for five points to get the game to 75-71 with 3:48 left to play.  The Falcons picked up an offensive rebound for another score to add to their total, as Weakley provided an answer at the charity stripe.  With two minutes left, Tate fed Middleton off a cut underneath for now a 77-75 game, with Frostburg just down by a score.  Both teams missed their next look at offense, as with under a minute left, Weakley grabbed a steal and marched all the way down the floor for the tying layup and a 77-77 game.  Fairmont took a timeout to regroup, as they had the ball.  The Falcons were fouled out of the timeout, but missed both layups, keeping the game tied with 28 seconds left on the clock.  Tate grabbed the rebound off the miss, allowing Frostburg to set up a play off another timeout.  The Bobcats worked the ball to 1.9 seconds, with Smith finding Middleton off another cut for the go-ahead layup and a 79-77 Frostburg lead.  Fairmont called another timeout, as off the inbound, the Falcons only needed one second to tie the game, leaving Frostburg with the ball with 0.9 to play.  The Bobcats were unable to get off a shot, sending the game to overtime at a 79-79 score. 
 
Middleton cracked the first point of OT at the free throw line, as two free throws then from Fairmont put them in front 81-80 in the first minute.  The Falcons kept their momentum from the fourth, fighting for seven consecutive points and an 88-80 lead with under two to go in overtime.  Smith laid in a score for the Bobcats, but Fairmont answered with a triple to go up 91-82 with exactly a minute remaining on the clock.  Forced to now play the foul game, the Bobcats hoped for misses at the free throw line from the Falcons, put one more point would finalize the game at 92-82 in favor of Fairmont. 
 
Weakley led all scorers on the day with 32 points and eight rebounds, shooting 12-for-22 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free throw line.  Spinelli and Middleton both finished with 11 points, with the former grabbing nine rebounds and the latter dishing out three assists.  Tate saw 10 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Shamdeen finished with nine points and Smith dished out a team-high six assists. 
 
With the loss, Frostburg finishes the regular season 18-10, while Fairmont concludes their regular season trip 24-4.  The Bobcats next head to the MEC Tournament as the No. 4 seed, planning a rematch of last year's playoff appearance, facing No. 5 Concord on Thursday, March 6 at 8:30 PM in WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, W.Va.  For more information and updates, please visit frostburgsports.com and Tournament Central.