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Storylines –West Virginia State Game
No. 8 seed West Virginia State will look for its third win of the year over ninth seeded UVa-Wise when the two teams hook up in the opening round of the 2016 Mountain East Conference Tournament presented by GoMart Tuesday. The two teams will be meeting for the second time in less than a week, the Yellow Jackets claimed an 88-78 win at the Prior Center last Thursday. In the win, MEC Freshman of the Year Laura Szorenyi scored a game-high 31 points. The guard did most of her damage at the free throw line as she connected on 11 of 13 foul shots. Fellow guard, Deyahnna Styles also had a strong offensive game as she finished 8 of 12 from the field en route to 21 points. The Yellow Jackets overcame a three-point halftime deficit by scoring 51 second half points to complete the regular season sweep in the series.
About UVa-Wise
For the third consecutive year, UVa-Wise will go on the road to begin MEC Tournament play. The Cavaliers are 2-0 in the previous two opening round tournament games.  A year ago, UVa-Wise upended Concord 77-59 after falling 65-48 to the Mountain Lions in the regular season finale. In it's home loss to the Yellow Jackets, the Cavaliers struggled to defend the paint. West Virginia State scored 46 points in the paint while also picking up 25 points off turnovers. Blair Harding was the offensive leader for UVa-Wise as she netted 21 points on 8 of 21 shooting. The guard added six rebounds and a pair of steals while Taylor Sandidge posted 17 points, four rebounds and four assists. On Monday, both Harding and Sandidge were named Honorable Mention All-MEC by the league's coaches. The award is the second for Harding who was a First-Team All-MEC performer in 2015 while Sandidge garnered her first all-conference award. The winner of Tuesday's game will travel to Charleston to face top seeded and regular season champion West Liberty in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. inside the Charleston Civic Center.