MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Trailing by a basket at halftime for the second consecutive game, Glenville State had their opponents right where the Lady Pioneers wanted them.
GSU’s patented style of uptempo offense and pressure defense prevailed on the biggest stage in Division II women’s basketball. Glenville State pulled away from Western Washington, 85-72 at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Alabama to claim the NCAA Division II National Championship. It is the first NCAA title for Glenville State in any sport.
After outscoring Grand Valley State, 50-24 in the second half of their semifinal contest, Glenville State ran away from the Vikings in the final two frames by outscoring WWU 41-26 after halftime.
“It is so surreal. We want to give God glory. That is something we have done all year. That’s important for us. I also want to thank all of our fans, who were like our sixth man tonight,” said Glenville State head coach Kim Stephens on the CBS Sports Network broadcast. “I want to thank our team. They bought in and they played hard. I am not the easiest person to play for. But they did it. It paid off. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
“DOMINANCE REACHES ITS DESTINY.”
The @LadyPioneers_ are @NCAADII Champions! pic.twitter.com/SYxTrLz55n
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) March 26, 2022
Neither team led by more than seven points in a tightly-contested first half. The lead changed hands three times in the first quarter and the Lady Pioneers led 20-19 after the opening ten minutes.
Glenville took their largest lead of the first half [27-21] with a 14-4 run between the quarters. Zakiyah Winfield scored seven consecutive points for GSU during the run. Winfield paced GSU with 15 points in the first half.
The Vikings quickly responded by scoring the next eleven points to take a 32-27 lead. Glenville evened the score in the final minute of the second quarter with a 7-0 run. A basket by Mollie Olson gave WWU a 46-44 halftime lead. Western Washington led for nearly 15 of the 20 minutes in the opening half.
The Lady Pioneers needed just 97 seconds to go on a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter to take a lead they would not relinquish. GSU led 67-62 through three quarters.
Glenville State’s consistent full court pressure forced turnovers in bunches in the fourth quarter. The Lady Pioneers connected on four consecutive shots from the floor to take a 78-68 lead with six minutes to play. An 11-2 run extended the GSU cushion to 14 points with 4:30 remaining.
Western Washington (25-7) turned the ball over 25 times while Glenville had just eight turnovers.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! The Glenville State Lady Pioneers! pic.twitter.com/rRdokPBPFJ
— Mountain East Conf. (@TheMountainEast) March 26, 2022
GSU’s Re’Shawna Stone earned tournament MVP honors. She led the Lady Pioneers with 25 points while going 11-for-16 from the floor. Stone also collected five steals.
“I really love this team. We put in work starting in the preseason. Obviously, this was probably the hardest preseason of my career. I believe in everybody. I trust in everybody on the team. Everybody can bring something to the table,” said Stone.
“We always say, ‘Heart over height’, because we are really small. I think we definitely showed that tonight.”
Winfield added 23 points for the Lady Pioneers. Huntington native Dazha Congleton scored 11 points and pulled down a game-best nine rebounds.
— GSU Pioneer Athletics (@GSUpioneers) March 26, 2022
Glenville State (35-1) set a new scoring record for points in the NCAA Division II Tournament. Their 524 points surpassed the record of 504 points set by California University of Pennsylvania in 2004. In six NCAA Tournament games, GSU’s average margin of victory was 25.8 points. Glenville State closes the year averaging 95.5 points per game, 13 points more than any team in Division II.
Stephens, a Glenville State and Parkersburg South graduate was recently named the Division II Women’s Basketball National Coach of the Year by the WBCA. She has posted a 158-21 record leading the Lady Pioneers.
The championship is the first NCAA basketball title for a West Virginia school.