CHARLESTON, West Virginia - After this week's wet and blustery conditions, Salem women's basketball team braved the rain to make the trip down to Charleston for the second matchup against the Golden Eagles this season for the Tigers. Despite a strong first quarter, Salem could not keep up with Charleston on their home floor, and fell 77-53 to the Golden Eagles. 

As previously mentioned, Salem opened the game with some hot shooting from the floor. Kamryn Ruffin nailed a pair of threes in the period, but Charleston was able to match the Tigers shot for shot to maintain a 24-21 after the first.

In the second, the offensive chances got considerably tougher. Salem leaned on the interior duo of Karmen Vasquez and Liliani Krause throughout the period, but Charleston continued to control the contest with a 38-29 scoreline going into the halftime break. 

After the intermission, Salem needed to start building on their comeback bid. Some good outside shooting from Kasaya Krause certainly pushed Salem along in the period, but Charleston kept Salem at bay to keep a 58-41 advantage going into the final frame. 

In the fourth quarter, Salem again needed to throw everything they had into one last comeback surge. They found the beginnings of that wave with some key shots from Lucia Yanez and Cassandra Smith, but the Charleston lead was simply too much to climb for the Tigers. Therefore, Salem fell 77-53 to the Golden Eagles. 

Statistically, Salem was led by a solid performance from Liliani Krause who finished with 19 points in the contest. Carmen Vasquez also had an effective night with 12 points. 

As the season begins to wind to a close, Salem will host the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets in their second to last home contest this weekend. That game will be played on Saturday, February 15th at 2 PM in T. Edward Davis Gymnasium in Salem, West Virginia.