Point Park women’s basketball was unable to find success in the team’s first Mountain East Conference tournament appearance, losing 82-58 to West Virginia State University in the first round on Wednesday afternoon.
It started off as a tight matchup between the two teams, with the score being tied 15-15 at the end of the first quarter, but the Yellow Jackets eventually began to pull away during the second quarter.
Point Park briefly held the lead after two successful free-throw chances from Alexis Giles, but afterwards a 3-pointer by West Virginia State’s Baylee Goins kicked off a 10-0 run for the Yellow Jackets.
Giles eventually thwarted West Virginia State’s run, once again making back-to-back free throws. However the Pioneers still had a hill to climb, as they were down 37-30 at halftime.
The Pioneers were never able to significantly close the gap on West Virginia State in the second half, with the Yellow Jackets going 15-30 from the field, and 14-21 from the free-throw line.
The biggest challenge for Point Park in this game was dealing with West Virginia State’s bench depth, as they switched out all five players on the court several times throughout the game, resulting in 42 bench points for the Yellow Jackets.
“West Virginia State just executed down the stretch better than we did,” Point Park guard Emma Pavelek said following the game. “I think the way they sub has a lot to do with it too, being able to have fresh legs every few minutes is a huge advantage they have over a lot of teams.”
The Pioneers finished the game going 27.3% from the field and 67.9% from the free-throw line. Alexis Giles led the team in scoring with 16 points, including converting on six of her eight free-throw attempts.
After the game, coach Dave Scarborough said he was proud of how his team managed their emotions playing in their first MEC Tournament game, as well as how they handled West Virginia State early in the game.
“We knew West Virginia State was a physical and pressure team, we handled their style of play well in the first half,” Scarborough said. “We made a few adjustments at halftime versus West Virginia State’s press, however, were unable to make the correct reads down the stretch. We had great opportunities to score once we broke the press; the shots simply did not fall.”
Scarborough believes that following his program’s first season in the Mountain East Conference, Point Park had been able to gain the attention of coaches and players from around the conference.
“Outsiders will look at our overall record and think this season was a failure,” Scarborough said. “Our program faced a ton of adversity this year and in the face of adversity found a way to manage wins, be in close games and, more importantly, bought into our ‘team over talent’ motto.”
Scarborough highlighted several achievements from the season, including the program’s first MEC win over Concord, a road win versus Glenville State, and a victory on Senior Day against Salem.
The team graduates four seniors this year, including two players on the starting lineup.
“Our program is forever grateful for Janiah Tillman, Aichata Ballo, Isabella Pelaia, Coral Homs and Ari Bleda and the foundation they have set for the future,” Scarborough said.
Scarborough also mentioned the achievements of Bleda and Alexis Giles. Bleda scored her 1,000th point in her Point Park career this season, and Giles was named to the MEC All-Conference Second Team.
The season may be over for the Pioneers, but Dave Sacraborough is optimistic about what is to come for the program, specifically acknowledging his senior players for the work they have done this season.
