WHEELING – For the fifth consecutive year, Glenville State's Lady Pioneers will be playing in the Mountain East Conference Championship game. They advanced by defeating a hard-fighting Notre Dame squad 85-69 in the MEC semifinals Saturday afternoon.

Notre Dame led 9-8 at the first media timeout, but GSU's Kaylee Pierce scored five points on the next two possessions, giving the Lady Pioneers a lead they would never relinquish. They forged the lead to 24-16 after the first quarter, and still led 46-34 after a tightly played second quarter.

After a Falcon three-pointer from Ami Ali-Shakir cut the deficit to 46-37 on the first possession of the second half, Glenville's Re'Shawna Stone answered with a three that sparked the critical run of the game. Over the next six minutes, the Lady Pioneer lead would balloon to 64-41 after a dominant 18-4 surge. From there, the Falcons would chip away, but could never get the deficit back inside of 14 points.

Five different Lady Pioneers scored in double figures, led by Stone and Zakiyah Winfield with 18 each. Taychaun Hubbard scored 17, with Pierce and Dazah Congleton each scoring 12. Winfield and Congleton each recorded a team-high eight rebounds, with Congleton delivering four assists. Abby Stoller led the way with three steals.

As a team, GSU was 30-of-65 for 46%, with Notre Dame hitting 43% on a 29-of-67 performance. It was a rare occasion, in which an opponent closed a GSU game with more field goal attempts. The Lady Pioneers led in total rebounding 34-28, and was boosted by connecting on six three-pointers, compared to only one by the Falcons. Stone and Pierce hit a pair of bombs to lead the effort beyond the arc.

Notre Dame was led by Jada Marone with 22 points, and Lily Carlson with 17.

Glenville improves to a perfect 29-0 with the win. Notre Dame closes their season with an overall mark of 15-14.

Sunday's title game is set for 2:00 in Wheeling's WesBanco Arena.