Salem University rallied to take a third-quarter lead, but West Virginia State University used a 12-0 run to go back on top to stay as the Tigers fell to the Yellow Jackets 107-90 in NCAA Division II women's basketball Friday at Institute, W.Va. Nia Bishop led Salem with 26 points, while Nerea Arambarri Fernandez narrowly missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
 
Salem (2-10) trailed by as many as eight points in the first half, but Endia Jones' three-pointer and a basket by Daniela Quesada helped pull the Tigers within a field goal midway through the third quarter. Reeva Jackson drew a foul on an offensive putback and completed the three-point play to put the Tigers on top 61-60 with 4:33 remaining.
 
West Virginia State (4-7) regained the lead on a Chloe Cheresne layup and Charity Shears connected on three successive three-pointers as the Yellow Jackets built a 72-61 advantage. Salem got as close as 78-72 on a Tamia Tart three-pointer with 8:40 left in the fourth quarter. But West Virginia State answered with a 9-0 run and the Tigers never got any closer than eight points the rest of the way.
 
Salem built a double-digit lead in the first quarter as Alicia Smith's three-pointer followed a pair of Fernandez three-pointers to cap a 9-0 run and give the Tigers a 19-9 advantage with 6:28 remaining. Salem hit six of its first eight attempts from beyond the arc.
 
West Virginia State rallied to within a point at the end of the first quarter and built a 35-30 lead midway through the second quarter. Three-pointers by Quesada and Bishop helped put the Tigers back on top 40-38 with 5:14 left before halftime.
 
A pair of West Virginia State free throws broke a 42-42 tie and Alexis Hall's three-point play with 1:38 remaining gave the Yellow Jackets their biggest lead of the half at 54-46. Salem held the Yellow Jackets scoreless the remainder of the quarter and Bishop's layup just before the buzzer pulled the Tigers within 54-48 at intermission.
 
The first half saw nine lead changes and seven ties.
 
Bishop and Tart each pulled down seven rebounds for Salem, while Jones added five boards to go with 12 points. Inari Jones also had five rebounds for the Tigers. Fernandez and Aaliyah Holmes each dished out four assists.
 
Shears led all scorers with 29 points for West Virginia State, while Hall added 24 points.
 
Salem is off for Christmas Break and then returns to action January 2 as the Tigers play host to Davis & Elkins College. Tip-off is 6 p.m. at T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.