The University of Charleston women's basketball team watched scoring droughts and shooting slumps infect top-seeded Glenville State's game in the Golden Eagles' Mountain East Conference quarterfinal upset, which set up UC for Saturday's tournament semifinal with Fairmont State.
It turned out those droughts and slumps were contagious.
The Golden Eagles suffered through them Saturday afternoon, as their MEC tournament journey came to a close with a 71-57 loss in the semis to the Falcons.
UC (12-19) shot just 20 of 59 from the floor (33.9 percent) Saturday, including 7 of 19 (36.8 percent) from 3-point range. Between the second and third quarters, Charleston made just 5 of 24 shots from the floor.
The Falcons dealt with none of those problems, shooting 26 of 52 from the floor (50 percent) for the game.
"We kind of did it to ourselves," UC senior guard Jordyn Peck said. "We were turning the ball over and giving them easy transition buckets. And their momentum shifted from there. Every time we made a mistake, they were able to convert."
Abby Watson was the only double-digit scorer for the Golden Eagles, finishing with 15 points on 5 of 13 shooting. The Falcons (19-11) were paced by Deidra Combs, who scored 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
Charleston never led Saturday's game, but kept things close early on. A 3-pointer by Peck with 5:07 left in the first quarter closed FSU's advantage to 10-9. Yet the Falcons pulled away with a 7-0 first-quarter run and a 17-9 lead.
After that, the Falcons started to gain even more distance, boosted by Charleston's inability to score a point in the last 5:39 of the third quarter. When that buzzer sounded, Fairmont was up 56-32 and cruising toward its spot in Sunday's 1 p.m. MEC title game. The Falcons will face the winner between Wheeling Jesuit and UVa-Wise.
It was an uncommon game for Charleston guard Peck, an all-MEC first-teamer who led the conference in scoring during the season with 18.7 points per game. She finished Saturday's contest with nine points, her first game scoring in single digits since a three-point performance against Wheeling Jesuit on Jan. 28.
"We knew a big key was guarding Jordyn and everyone focused on that," Combs said. "We were talking the whole game about where the shooters were."
Peck went 3 for 18 from the floor Saturday, missing a couple from close range. The senior made 2 of 7 3-pointers.
"The floaters that I took going into the lane, I shot them whenever I felt there was contact," Peck said. "Instead of looking for contact, I should have went up with them stronger instead of just shooting them whenever I felt a bump."
Mya Walker and Anna Hayton each scored six points for the Golden Eagles. Amanda Ruffner and Kelli Jo Harrison each added 10 points for the Falcons, while Makenzie White added eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.
It was Fairmont's second straight season in the semifinals, and it will be its first championship appearance as part of the MEC. The Falcons were picked to win the conference in the preseason, but came into the tournament seeded fifth after a 9-8 start to the season.
UC coach Adam Collins said the Falcons are showing the skill that earned them that preseason ranking at the right time.
"They're playing like the preseason No. 1," he said, "and they completely outplayed us on both ends of the floor today."