SALEM, WV - The Salem Tigers (2-7) returned home tonight to play host to the visiting Senators (1-6) of Davis & Elkins College. The Tigers came into tonight's matchup looking to build off of a road win against West Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday, December 6th.

Both offenses struggled in the first quarter of tonight's action. The Tigers got three on the board from the charity stripe in the first three minutes of play, but they went ice cold after. The Tiger defense however stood tall against a Senators team that has struggled this season. Salem made their first field goal of the game with just under two and a half minutes remaining in the opening quarter. The shot to break the seal on the rim was a triple from Elena Pericic that cut the Tiger deficit to five. Salem would end the first quarter trailing 13-6.

The offensive struggles continued for the Tigers in the early goings of the second quarter. The Senators however had seemed to find some rhythm. They began the quarter with a 7-0 run that included points from the free throw line, three-point line, and points in the paint. The Tigers were able to respond with back-to-back threes from Emerson Wells and Teodora Popovic which kept them in the game. Salem improved over the remainder of the half but still found themselves down 30-19 at the break.

Salem's defensive adjustments at the half proved to be effective in the third as they held Davis & Elkins to their lowest-scoring quarter of the game. The offense had taken a turn for the better as well. Anete Bluma and Elena Pericic led the scoring efforts for the Tigers in the third quarter to help close the Senator's lead to just five going into the fourth quarter at 40-35.

As the fourth quarter started the Tigers knew they were still in it. The Salem offense was clicking better than it had all game and defensively they found themselves getting stops with much more consistency. Emerson Wells hit two huge three-pointers in the fourth to prevent the Senators from taking the lead and Elena Pericic was a consistent outlet on offense when the Tigers needed a basket. The Tiger comeback was successful, but that early lead they gave up came back to bite them. Salem was able to knot the match up at 52-52 to send the game into overtime.

Salem had no trouble getting to the charity stripe during the extra period. Teodora Popovic went 4-4 from the stripe to keep the Tigers hopes alive. In the end, it was Taylor Smith of the Senators who came up with the big play. She drove in and converted her layup attempt to give the Senators a one-point lead with under thirty-five seconds to play. In their final possession, the Tigers looked to Teodora Popovic who was unable to convert the potential game-winner at the buzzer. The Tigers fought hard but in the end, it wasn't enough as they fell 62-61 in an overtime heartbreaker.

The Tigers will be back in action on Monday, December 11th in Huntington, WV where they will take on the Thundering Herd of Marshall University in a mid-season exhibition available to watch on ESPN+ at 6:00 PM.

SALEM STAT LEADERS:

Points: Elena Pericic (22)

Assists: Teodora Popovic (7)

Rebounds: Anete Bluma (14)

Blocks: Anna Machytkova (3)