Glenville State entered Thursday's Mountain East Conference tournament quarterfinals as the league's top scoring team. Fairmont State found a way to stop the Pioneers from scoring points.
Fifth-seeded Fairmont State flummoxed Glenville State with its 1-3-1 defense in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 77-68 win in the women's quarterfinals at the Charleston Civic Center.
Glenville State, averaging a league-best 90.0 points per game, was held without a point for 6:27 in the fourth quarter and didn't make a field goal for 7:53 in the final period.
"I think the defenses that we use now, some teams have more difficulty with one than the other," Fairmont State coach Steve McDonald said. "We stuck with one for a while and it was extremely effective. Sometimes as a coach when that begins to happen, quite honestly, there's not much you can do about it."
Glenville State's Julie Bishop sank a 3-pointer with 8:33 left in the fourth quarter to put her team up 63-55. The Falcons (19-11) outscored the Pioneers 22-5 the rest of the way to advance to Saturday's semifinals.
Glenville State (18-11), which lost its fifth consecutive game, missed nine straight shots during its field-goal drought.
"We just didn't do the things we practice," Glenville State coach Charles Marshall said. "They hurt us with their 1-3-1 and I wasn't able to make the adjustments that needed to be made."
Fairmont State, which trailed for 30:40 of the 40-minute game, tied the score at 65-all with 6:10 left when Amanda Ruffner hit one of two free throws. That started a 9-0 run that flipped a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead with 50 seconds left.
Ruffner, who finished with a game-high 24 points, scored eight consecutive points during that stretch.
"I felt comfortable and we never thought we were going to lose at any point," said Ruffner, a second-team All-MEC selection. "We wanted it more tonight. It was a team effort."
Fairmont State, which has won five of six games, outscored Glenville State 22-10 in the fourth quarter despite using just six players. The only substitute, Kelli Jo Harrison, played 21 minutes off the bench and scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Four starters - Ruffner, Gabrielle Etter, Deidra Combs and Emily Puskarich - played at least 38 minutes. Ruffner finished with 12 rebounds to give her a double-double, and Combs had 12 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double of her own. Puskarich added 21 points with five 3-pointers.
Paris McLeod led Glenville State with 19 points. The Pioneers, who lead Division II in 3-pointers made and attempted, finished 11 of 38 (28.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
Fairmont State plays top seed West Liberty on Saturday at noon.