SALEM, WV - Tonight the Lady Tigers (4-20) hosted the Fighting Falcons (19-5) as the final stretch of the regular season began to come to a close for Salem. The two squads battled earlier this season in Fairmont, WV which resulted in a loss for the Tigers with a final score of 58-67.

The Falcons jumped out early on with a 7-0 run to stun the Tigers. Salem quickly gained their composure and responded with a barrage of three-pointers. Emerson Wells and Elena Pericic combined for the first nine Tiger points, all from distance. On the defensive side of the ball, Salem continued to struggle, but their offense had turned the early stages of the game into a shootout. After rallying from behind to take the lead Salem battled back-and-forth with Fairmont for the remainder of the quarter in a test of wills. It was a late shot by Emerson Wells just before the quarter ended that gave the Tigers the lead going into the break up 22-21. 

Fairmont made it a point to get the rim in the second quarter, with their opening two possessions resulting in trips to the charity stripe where they converted three of four looks. Scoring for the Tigers had slowed down after a fast first quarter until Anna Macjytkova finally got the lid off the basket with a layup to cut the Tiger deficit to one. What had started as an offensive track meet had turned into two defensive stalwarts trading stops on either end. Three minutes went by without a point for either team and the silence was finally broken by Fairmont State who scored at the rim. Salem quickly returned the favor with another bucket at the cup from Machytkova to keep them right with the Falcons. Both offenses picked up the scoring to close the half and Salem went into the break down 37-38.

Salem grabbed the lead from the Falcons almost immediately with a layup from Carine Pinkney to start the second half. Fairmont seemed to find their jump shot at the half, they came out and hit two in a row over Tiger defenders to reclaim their lead. After brief spurts from either team at the beginning of the third quarter the defenses locked in. The two squads held each other scoreless for almost three minutes, keeping the game scored at 45-41 Fairmont advantage. Once the scoring began to ramp back up the Falcons wasted no time adding to their lead. They ripped off an 8-2 run to extend their lead to double digits. The Tigers made a small run just before the fourth quarter to get the deficit down to single digits. At the final break, Salem found themselves down 49-58.

The Tigers took no time cutting into the Falcon lead in the fourth quarter. Mchytkova and Pinkney teamed up for a tandem of buckets to trim the deficit to five for the Tigers. Salem continued to pour it on after the Falcon's response, eventually cutting it to a three-point game. The Falcon offense turned the tide after the Tigers run with a pair of buckets to balloon the lead to eight. With under five minutes to go Salem needed to turn the momentum in their favor. Defensively the Tigers forced tough looks but could not help continuing to send the Falcons to the free-throw line. The Falcons were rocky on their attempts, but it was enough to hold the lead as the game came to a close. The Tigers fell with a final score of 63-72.

The Tigers are back on the road for their next contest against Frostburg State in Frostburg, MD. Game time is set for Saturday, February 24th at 2:00 pm.

SALEM STAT LEADERS

Points: Liliani Krause (14)

Assists: Carine Pinkney (4)

Rebounds: Anna Machytkova, Liliani Krause (9)

Blocks:  Emerson Wells (3)