Kenyell Goodson goes up for two and fouled on the
shot. She had 9 points on the night and 5 assists
Story and Photos by Drew Moody
Ending the season with a 29-4 overall record, Glenville State College's Lady Pioneers were just two games away from qualifying for the Elite Eight national championships.
As with Friday's match-up with West Liberty the team faltered
in the early going and failed to secure their typical rhythm of play. Overall Bloomsburg University (PA) played a better executed consistent game and jumped out to an early lead.
Ashleigh Fossett drives from the outside
Ashleigh Fossett gave Glenville the lead 3-2 with a triple in the first minute of play, but from that juncture the Lady Pioneers luck suffered a total eclipse for much of the first half.
Led by the double-barreled threat of top Pennsylvania State Athletic
Association players Catherine Noack and Jocelyn Ford, Bloomsburg
took control of the offensive and defensive ends of the court from the start.
Consequently, the Lady Pioneers lost and never regained the lead after the initial two minutes of play.
The Huskies are a quicker and more agile team than the Lady Pioneers, with an overall height advantage. Spreading out the offense with lightning passes looking for their open teammate rendered GSC's often crippling double-team defense ineffective. In addition, the Huskies players moved better with and without the ball.
The subtitle of Glenville's first half could have been "While You Were Sleeping," but that doesn't fully tell the story. The Lady Pioneers were shooting, and shooting a lot, but the ball couldn't find the hoop.
After seven minutes of play the Huskies had a 10-point lead, 4-14. Five scoreless minutes ticked off the clock for Glenville. The dry spell continued requiring almost that long to score a mere 10 additional points.
Meanwhile Bloomsburg smelled blood in the proverbial waters capitalizing on the circumstances taking the commanding, almost unbelievable, lead of 14-37 with just over four minutes remaining in the half.
At the buzzer the halftime score stood at 25-46.
For the half Glenville hit 6 of 29 field goals shooting 20-percent. Bloomsburg shot over 52-percent, plus controlled the boards with 29 rebounds compared to Glenville's 15, while getting 10 second-chance points for the effort.
It must have been a "witchy" halftime break because the Lady Pioneers re-entered the court on fire. Had they played half of the first period as they did the second Glenville would have likely secured a win.
A steal by Aesha Peters set up the first of two three-pointers by Ginny Mills before a minute had expired. Tasia Bistow hit a lay-up and a three-pointer back-to-back and the score stood at 37-51 with just under 18-minutes left.
Kenyona Simmons goes up for two of her 17 points on the night
Kenyona Simmons was fouled as she hit for two and nailed her free-throw, and Tiffani Huffman scored a triple pulling Glenville to within 13 (43-56) with just under sixteen minutes left to play. The crowd was riled up and Bloomsburg knew they weren't playing on home turf.
The Lady Pioneer's quick strike rattled the Huskies but the team soon regained its composure and the game was a cat fight down the stretch. Glenville's surge was a remarkable comeback attempt getting to within nine, 61-70 with just over seven minutes on the clock. However, the Huskies held on and closed out the contest winning 91-78.
Ginny Mills (left) works the ball near the top of the
key Saturday night. She had 13 points on the night and
3 steals; Keyanna Tate (right) is covered closely by a
Bloomsburg defender as she's ready to go up for two
Simmons led Glenville's scorers with 17, while Mills and Huffman picked up 13 apiece. Kenyell Goodson picked up 9 points with 5 assists. Keyanna Tate scored 8, and Ashleigh Fossett scored 7 with 4 assists. The Lady Pioneers shot 35-percent from the floor.
Bloomsburg had four players in double-figures with Noack and Ford netting 27 and 19 respectively. The Huskies shot 55-percent from the floor, and nearly 58-percent of their 3-point attempts, compared to Glenville's 44-percent.
The Lady Pioneers lose eight seniors this year and will be in a rebuilding phrase in the coming months.
Lady Pioneers Coach Charles Marshall he'd be happy with new recruits who gave half as much as this Glenville team has all year. "There's no way I can replace these young ladies," he said, praising the seniors. "They have been the heart and soul of this team all season long."
"They didn't quit and they fought to the end," he said of the loss.
"We had a shot," Marshall added without regret. Marshall had a phenomenal season as a first year head coach ending with a 29-4 overall record. The team was declared season champions as top team in the Mountain East Conference and captured the conference championship recently in Charleston, WV.
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