WHEELING, W.Va. – The Glenville State Women's Basketball team opened the 2026 Mountain East Conference Tournament with a 85-74 win over ninth-seeded West Liberty inside WesBanco Arena on Thursday (Mar. 5) night. The No. 1 seeded Lady Pioneers improved to (23-5) overall and have advanced to Semifinal Saturday.
1st Half
Khalia Bryant broke the zero off the scoreboard with an early three pointer but it would be the Hilltoppers who came out strong offensively, building an 11-6 lead just three minutes into the opening quarter. The Lady Pioneers bit into the lead after the media timeout, using a three from
Jayda Allie to trim it to one and eventually taking the lead (16-15) on
Nwando Okigbo's layup. It stayed tightly contested through the remainder of the quarter, with WLU holding onto a small lead, 23-22.
West Liberty's Reagan Vinskovich opened the second quarter with a two-footer before
Nwando Okigbo showed her strength down low with a layup of her own 25 seconds later. The squads exchanged the lead, however, the Lady Pioneers were able to hold a three-point lead at various points during the middle of the second stanza. The Hilltoppers regained the advantage, but a step back three-pointer from Allie knotted things up at 43 as the two squads exited the floor.
2nd Half
Following midrange jumper form
Carine Pinkney, the Lady Pioneers went three and a half minutes without a point.
Nylah Davis broke the scoring drought, and the blue and white's reinforcements quickly added on. Allie, Davis, Bryant and Okigbo all logged points on the scoreboard, boosting Glenville State's lead to six with two minutes left in the quarter. Davis then ended the stanza with a free throw and a bucket before the buzzer, making it 62-54 at the end of three quarters.
Vinskovich, who scored 29 points, had just six in the final and pivotal quarter. "I think we did a better job guarding her in the second half than we did in the first half," said head coach
Emily Stoller. "I just wasn't physical enough in the first half, I came out in the second half and (had) to play harder," added senior forward
Khalia Bryant. The Lady Pioneer led grew to as much as 14 in the fourth quarter, as GSU answered every WLU basket down the stretch which led to the 85-74 win as the horn sounded.
Final Stats
West Liberty
Reagan Vinskovich led all scorers with 29 points while grabbing 13 rebounds for the Hilltoppers. Anna Lucarelli added 27 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the defeat. Katie Lucarelli had just one point, but logged five assists and five rebounds.
Glenville State
Nwando Okigbo tied the MEC Tournament single game rebounding record with 25 boards while scoring a team-leading 17 points.
Nylah Davis was big for GSU, scoring 16 points and adding six rebounds and three assists.
Khalia Bryant flirted with a double-double, putting together 12 points and nine rebounds.
Jayda Allie was the final double-digit scorer for the Lady Pioneers, flushing two three-pointers with 10 points.
Up Next For The Pioneers
Glenville State will take on fifth-seeded Fairmont State in the MEC Tournament Semifinals on Saturday (Mar. 7) with tip slated for 12 p.m.
