INSTITUTE, West Virginia - After coming up just short of an upset win at home against Charleston, the Salem women's basketball team was anxious to go into their holiday break on a high note as they headed down to West Virginia State. Despite some great individual performances, Salem was not able to put it all together to snag a victory over the Yellow Jackets. The game played out as follows. 

In the first period, Salem found themselves in a battle early as both teams traded shots to open up the game. However, it would be the Yellow Jackets who found a slight edge. Salem kept the game close with some strong play from Anna Machytkova, but it would be West Virginia State who controlled the game after one quarter by a score of 20-10.

In the second quarter, Salem had their work cut out for them as the West Virginia State offense tried to push their advantage. However, Elena Pericic found some key buckets for the Tigers in the paint, but the Yellow Jackets lead grew to 41-25 by the end of the period. 

After the halftime break, the Tigers found themselves trailing, and the game in danger of getting out of hand. However, Salem was able to battle back behind the interior play of Pericic paired with some big shots from Emerson Wells and Aina Maynou. Salem was able to reduce the deficit to 56-45 favoring the Yellow Jackets.

In the final period, the final comeback bid was on. They made some strides with key scoring plays from Jayla Atkins and Nerea Arambarri Fernandez. However, West Virginia State would hold onto a comfortable win 86-64. 

Even though the game did not go the Salem way, there were still some bright spots on the stats sheet. Salem was led by a double double from Elena Pericic, who had 20 points and 11 rebounds. Anna Machytkova also chipped in 15 points for the Tigers. Liliani Krause had an impressive day on the boards as well with 11 rebounds. 

Despite the disappointing result today, this is not the final chance for Salem women's basketball to get another win in December. They are back in action at home on December 29th as the Cardinals of Wheeling University come to town for a 2 PM tip.