CHARLESTON – The 7th-seeded University High girls basketball team tried on their Cinderella slippers on Thursday afternoon at the 2026 WVSSAC state tournament inside the Charleston Coliseum, as the Hawks battled No. 2 Parkersburg in the Class AAAA quarterfinals.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, the slippers were a size too small, as they fell to the Big Reds, 71-70, in overtime.
UHS forced the extra period on a corner 3-pointer by Cheyanne Bishoff that tied the game at 63 points with ten seconds to go.
Parkersburg outscored University 8-7 in overtime after a 3-point attempt at the buzzer came up short, to advance to Friday’s Class AAAA semifinals against No. 3 Morgantown at 9:00 p.m.
The Hawks’ season comes to an end at 14-8.
UHS was led by senior Bri Fox, who scored a game-high 32 points, including 24 in the second half (13 in the fourth quarter). Junior Whitney Cox added 19 points, five rebounds, five assists, and six steals before exiting the game in the fourth quarter with her fifth personal foul.
Parkersburg was led by senior Kennedy Porter with 24 points and a Class AAAA single-game record of 24 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end.
“Wow, what a game,” UHS head coach Sammy Lusk said. “The emotions are a mix of joy and sadness. I’m so proud of these girls. Nobody gave us a chance, and in the end, we were right there with the chance to win it. I’m very blessed to be the coach of this team and to have these girls. And I’ll tell you what, if Bri Fox isn’t a first-team all-state player, I don’t know who is.”
UHS entered the final quarter of the contest trailing 50-37, but began to chip away at the lead to begin the fourth quarter with consecutive baskets by Isabell Hall, eventually cutting the deficit to six, 56-48.
Back-to-back triples from Fox and Cox cut the lead to two, and Fox tied the game at 56 with a tough runner with just over two minutes to play in regulation.
Parkersburg managed to score the next two buckets with a layup and two free throws, pushing the lead to four.
Taylor Vanscoy cut the lead back to one possession for UHS with a lay-in before the Big Reds split a pair of free throws.
The Hawks grabbed the rebound off the miss and sprinted down the floor, where Bishoff found herself open in the corner.
After not playing a single second of the second half of the game, Bishoff stepped up and knocked down the shot to tie the game and force overtime.
“I know that my role is to shoot the ball when I get in the game,” Bishoff said. “When I get my shot, I have to take it. As soon as I saw I was open, I just let it go, and thankfully it went in.”
UHS managed to grow a 3-point lead through the first half of the overtime period, but only scored one more point for the final 1:42 of the extra frame as Parkersburg came away with a single-point victory.
“There are a lot of teams that would’ve loved to be playing here and to get to this stage,” Lusk said. “I am so proud of our effort all season, playing against the competition we played. I couldn’t be more blessed to be the coach of this program.”
BOX SCORE
Parkersburg 71, University 70
UHS 12 9 16 26 – 70
PHS 21 14 15 13 – 71
University (14-8) – Fox 12 4-6 32 Cox 7 1-1 19 Hall 3 2-2 9 Vanscoy 2 0-0 4 Bishoff 1 1-2 4 Campbell 1 0-2 2 TOTALS 26 8-13 70
Parkersburg (17-6) – Porter 11 2-4 24 Guice 9 2-2 22 Flanagan 2 5-6 10 Butcher 3 1-2 7 Cline 1 1-2 4 Lemasters 1 0-0 2 Lewis 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 28 11-16 71
3pt goals made – University 10 (Cox 4 Fox 4 Bishoff 1 Hall 1); Parkersburg 4 (Guice 2 Cline 1 Flanagan 1).
