West Virginia State's men's basketball team's hot start to the second half Saturday afternoon wasn't enough to overcome a rough first half as the Yellow Jackets dropped their eighth straight game, losing to Shepherd 81-69 at the Walker Convocation Center.
WVSU (6-20, 3-17 Mountain East Conference) nearly righted itself at the start of the second half, cutting into the Rams' 19-point halftime lead by outscoring Shepherd 18-8 in the beginning of the second period. State pulled to within seven points at 58-51 with DeQuan Doyle's tip-in with 9:11 left in the game.
But the Rams (17-9, 14-6) retaliated with a 7-2 spurt to push the lead back to double-digits.
Ernest Jenkins led WVSU with 20 points, while Naim Muhammad scored 30 to lead Shepherd.
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UC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The University of Charleston lost its third straight and fourth in its last five games with a 67-65 setback to Fairmont State Saturday at the Wehrle Athletic Arena.
UC (9-16, 8-11 MEC) had a chance to win the game in the final seconds, but an Abby Watson 3-pointer missed the mark. Jordyn Peck led Charleston with 26 points and Mya Walker added 12. Deidra Combs led Fairmont State (15-10, 12-7) with 22 points and Makenzie White scored 21.
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WVSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The Yellow Jackets shot a shade over 32 percent from the floor in the second half Saturday, falling to Shepherd 92-75 at the Walker Convocation Center.
WVSU (12-14, 10-10 MEC) made just 9 of 36 3-pointers for the game. Sydney Bates led the Yellow Jackets with 19 points, while Liz Myers led Shepherd (13-15, 10-10) with 21 points.
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WVU TECH WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Savannah Shamblin led the way with 25 points as the Golden Bears (19-11, 10-7 River States Conference) topped Point Park 89-62 Saturday.
Cheyanna Lusk scored 12 points while Zjhane West and Logan Dudley both added 10 in the victory.
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WVU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: A 13-point Iowa State run in the third quarter hampered West Virginia in a 68-53 loss to Iowa State Saturday at Ames, Iowa.
Iowa State (15-11, 6-9) closed out the first quarter with a 17-7 lead. However, West Virginia (18-9, 6-9) fought back and took a brief 26-25 lead with two minutes remaining in the first half. ISU used a four-point spurt to lead, 29-26, at the break. In the third quarter, the Mountaineers trimmed the game to 29-28, but Iowa State used a 13-point run to stretch its lead to double-figures. In the fourth quarter, WVU trimmed the game to 10, but a 9-3 run to open the period pushed the Cyclone lead to 18 points.
Lanay Montgomery paced West Virginia (18-9, 6-9 Big 12) with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The double-double was Montgomery's 10th of the season. Teana Muldrow tallied 11 points, just five shy of 1,000 career points, and grabbed nine rebounds. Tynice Martin scored 15 points for WVU.
Jadda Buckley led Iowa State (15-11, 6-9) with 20 points.
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WVU BASEBALL: The Mountaineers lost the second game of a three-game series at Charlotte 13-2 Saturday afternoon Charlotte, North Carolina.
WVU (0-2) scored two runs on seven hits with one error, while the 49ers (2-0) scored 13 runs on 15 hits with no errors.
Sophomore Darius Hill led the Mountaineers with two hits and drove in both WVU runs. Sophomore right-handed starter Michael Grove allowed four runs on six hits. He struck out four and walked two.
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WVU INDOOR TRACK: Redshirt freshman Candace Jones won the women's 800-meter run at the Penn State Tune-Up to close out the regular indoor season for the West Virginia University track and field team Saturday in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Jones ran a career-best time of 2:10.34, shaving 1.93 seconds off her previous best time.
WVU junior Sara Finfrock placed third in the women's pole vault, marking an indoor career-best mark of 3.81 meters. Junior Maggie Drazba placed third in the mile with a time of 4:56.10.
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MARSHALL BASEBALL: A seven-run second inning by No. 21 Georgia Tech proved to be too much for Marshall to overcome, as the Thundering Herd fell 11-3 Saturday in Atlanta.
Trevor Craport highlighted the big inning with a two-run homer to left field. The Yellow Jackets (2-0) later added solo home runs by Joey Bart and Kel Johnson.
Sophomore Damian Rodriguez had a two-run double for Marshall (0-2) in the ninth inning.
Marshall completes its three-game weekend in Atlanta at Kennesaw State at 1 p.m. Sunday at 1 p.m.
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MARSHALL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Middle Tennessee made 14 3-pointers in a 94-69 wwin over visiting Marshall Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Ty Petty led the Blue Raiders (17-9, 12-3 in Conference USA_ with 22 points, including four treys.
Marshall (12-13, 4-10) dropped its sixth in a row. Shayna Gore's 21 points led the Herd while Talequia Hamilton added 18 points and Asheika Alexander chipped in a season-high 14.
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MARSHALL SOFTBALL: The Marshall softball team grabbed a day one sweep at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando. The Thundering Herd improved to 5-2 with two wins Saturday at the Orange Blossom Invitational in Orlando, Florida.
Marshall defeated Delaware 5-2 in game one, then used the long ball to record a 10-2 run-rule victory over Bethune Cookman.
In the first game, senior pitcher Jordan Dixon went the distance for the third time this season and held Delaware to two runs on five hits. Dixon struck out eight in her fourth win of the season. Senior Shaelynn Braxton blasted her first home run of the season and 28th of her career and sophomore Abigail Estrada went 2 for 3 with two runs and two stolen bases.
In the nightcap, freshman pitcher Kailee Williamson earned her first career win and Taylor McCord hit a three-run home run and had four RBIs to lead Marshall. Elicia D'Orazio went 3 for 4 for the Herd.
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MARSHALL TENNIS: The Herd won three singles matches but came up short against Louisville, dropping a 5-4 decision Friday night at the Huntington Tennis Club.
The Herd (5-3) opened the match with a doubles win at the No. 3 spot by Stephanie Smith and Daniela Dankanych. Singles winners for Marshall were Derya Turhan at No. 1, Maddie Silver at No. 3 and Anna Pomyatinskaya at No. 4.