Box Score Wheeling, W.Va.---The Wheeling Jesuit women's basketball team played host to the Blue Knights of Urbana University on Saturday afternoon at the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Cardinals' offense, led by Jamie Sobczak and Jaila Bryant, surged midway through the second half to overcome an 11-point deficit for a 75-67 victory. With the win, Wheeling Jesuit improved to 2-3 overall while Urbana fell to 2-7.
 
“It was a great team effort, we showed we were resilient and fought back in the first and second periods against a tough opponent in Urbana ,” said Head Coach Debbie Buff. “We could have lost focus during Urbana's second big run, but we proved we had the mental fortitude to win.”
 
In the first half, Jesuit's Breanna Butler connected with a long range jumper to open the game for a 3-2 advantage. Wheeling Jesuit held the slim advantage for the initial 11-minutes, leading by as many as six points, 12-6. At 10:22, Alex Anderson drained a pair of foul shots for a 19-15 Cardinal lead, but Jesuit followed with a seven minute scoring drought.
 
The Blue Knights took full advantage of WJU's scoreless play with a 13-point run, establishing a nine-point, 28-19 lead. Urbana pushed the lead to 10 points, 30-20, with two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the half. Jesuit made one final stand before the half ran out. The Cardinals orchestrated an 11-3 run sparked by an Emily Robinson trifecta. Lucy DeFruscio followed with a 3-pointer and Butler added an old fashion three point play. The half ended on a Sobczak jumper, and the Cardinals trailed 33-31.
 
After the break, the Cardinals used back-to-back 3-pointers by Robinson and Butler to steal a one point lead at, 37-36, and extended the lead to 41-37. Urbana quickly tied the game at 41 apiece, and a back-and-forth battle ensued, resulting in a 46-46 stalemate.
 
At 13:41, the Blue Knights caught fire again, using three Cardinal turnovers for a 12-1 run and 58-47 advantage with 10:29 remaining in the contest. The 11-point advantage didn't last long as WJU retaliated. Sobczak and Bryant led the charge with, scoring a combined 11 points compared to Urbana's lone bucket. Sobczak drained four free throws and a long range jumper, while Bryant connected with a pair of field goals.
 
Trailing 65-61, Sobczak and Bryant collaborated again to take the lead. With 2:21 left to play, Sobczak knotted the game, 65-65, with back-to-back jumpers, and Bryant found the bottom of the net with a pair free throws. Wheeling Jesuit never looked back after Bryant's first pair of shots from the charity stripe, 67-65. Sobczak extended the lead to 69-65 with a field goal, and two additional foul shots from Bryant made it 71-65.
 
After a Blue Knight layup, Sobczak and Anderson iced the game with four free throws.
 
Sobczak led the Cardinals with a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds on 6-of-14 shooting from the floor and a 7-for-8 effort from the foul line. Butler and Robinson added 11 and 10, respectively, while Taneka Lewis and Anderson chipped in nine each. Bryant finished with eight points and six rebounds.
 
“Jamie (Sobczak) played great on both sides of the ball, and Jaila (Bryant) hit a couple of huge foul shots down the stretch,” Buff said. “They really stepped up to the challenge at the end of the game.”
 
Wheeling Jesuit will travel to Johnstown, Pa. on Dec. 15 for a WVIAC contest with the University of Pitt-Johnstown. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.