December 10th, 2023 by WCBC Radio
Frostburg State Women's Basketball team defeated the Glenville State Pioneers for the first time in program history on Saturday afternoon by a score of 102-98.
Glenville secured the jump ball and quickly put the ball in the basket , with sophomore Emilee Weakley scoring her first two points of the game for an early tie. Graduate Maggie Sharp helped FSU gain the lead after hitting a three pointer off an assist from freshman Alanna Tate, though Lauren Calhoun regained GSU's lead as she hit a twelve-foot jumper in back-and-forth action. The game was fast paced, up and down the court with points scored one right after the other for both teams.
GSU held a narrow lead for the first half of the quarter, but back-to-back Weakley buckets, the latter an and-one, put the Bobcats ahead 14-12. Junior Jasmine Johnson got into the lane for a lay-in, thenthe sides traded blows, with the Pioneers hitting a pair from distance while Weakley and Sharp made the next three shots for a narrow 22-21 Frostburg advantage. In the final minute, Glenville made a mid-range jumper and a late three to take a 26-24 advantage after one.
Two and a half minutes went by before there was any score change in the second period, with both offenses cooling off. Esther Oluade scored a right-handed layup to get the action started for GSU. Freshman Jenna Muha answered back with a post move in the paint and two points, then tied the game 30-30 as she knocked down two free throws. GSU was able to get a lead of three as Dream Cherry swooshed a basket from outside the arc, but graduate Ciara Thomas got FSU within one as she went coast-to-coast for a right-handed layup 38-37.
Shortly after, Thomas gave FSU their first lead of the quarter, going two-for-two from the free throw line as neither side seemed to give up momentum. With forty seconds left in the half the score was tied 43-43, when freshman Grace Middleton pressed, got a steal and scored a layup to end the first half of play with Frostburg leading 45-43.
Weakley hit a jumper and a layup to kick things off in the third to go up four, but the Pioneers quickly came back with seven points in 35 seconds to lead 52-49. Muha and Weakley combined for four points and put FSU back ahead 53-52. Another trio of Glenville buckets put them up by five, as Weakley and senior MacKenzie Freeze tried to keep the Bobcats in the game, though the GSU lead grew to 68-61 with three minutes left in the quarter. Freeze found Middleton under the basket for an easy score to kick-start some Bobcat pressure, then Weakley, Middleton, Muha, and junior Harley Herndon created ten points to even the game 71-71. GSU hit a jumper but Johnson came back with a post move and layup of her own, but with their last offensive possession, the Pioneers scored a layup, going into the fourth with a 75-73 score.
Glenville scored the first four points of the final frame to lead by six, but Weakley hit back with another and-one conversion and mid-range make, then Thomas made a layup to gain back the lead 80-79. Early fouls in the quarter meant that FSU had several chances from the charity stripe, as Middleton hit two free throws to give the Bobcats a three-point lead 86-83. Calhoun brought the visitors back within one, but a Thomas make, Weakley free throw, and Sharp lay-in put the Bobcats back up 93-87.
Chalon Miles and Cherry both hit threes to put GSU down just two, but Middleton remained steady at the line with another pair of makes, then was found by Weakley in transition for a four-point advantage. After another Cherry make from deep, Weakley and Muha scored the next three points to give FSU a 100-point game for the first time since 1997. The latter then came up with a huge block to keep Frostburg in the lead, then Thomas was fouled, keeping her cool at the line for a 102-98 lead. Glenville continously kept the ball alive on their last possession, but the ball never fell into the basket, giving the Bobcats their first-ever program win over the national powerhouse Pioneers in their ninth try.
Weakley led all scorers with her second 40-point performance of the year, while Muha recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Thomas (14) and Middleton (12) also scored in double digits, with the former dishing out a game-high four assists and the latter swiping a pair of steals. The Bobcats put in top-10 program history marks for points (102), field goals made (37), and field goal percentage (56.1), while also out-rebounding GSU 44-24, the visitors' lowest total since 2019.
With the conclusion of this game Frostburg moves to an overall record of 6-3 and a conference record of 5-1, while Glenville falls to an overall record of 6-4 and a conference record of 2-3. The Bobcats are back in action on the road at Seton Hill on Tuesday December 6 at 6 pm. For more information visit frostburgsports.com.
