Box Score Dunbar, W.Va. - Despite a strong start, the WJU women's basketball team dropped it's first Mountain East conference matchup of the season Friday on the road at West Virginia State, 63-77.
 
The Cardinals fall to 1-2 in the early days of the season. They will get the chance to climb into the conference win column on Monday when they take on Charleston in Wheeling.
 
WJU was tied with the Yellow Jackets at 36 going into the break. The bigger, more powerful WV State team scored 46 of their points in the paint, compared to WJU's 20 to dominate the Cards down low and eventually wear down the visitors in the home stretch.
 
"We had a lot of missed opportunities around the basket tonight," said WJU head coach Deb Buff. "We had a lot of pretty easy shots we just couldn't hit. State is a very physical team, and I thought we played hard. Our guard play was good, but we just couldn't capitalize down low."
 
Leading the Cardinals was the always-strong Breanna Butler who had 19 points and went 8-17 from the field and had a pair of threes. Taneka Lewis added 16 for the Cards, going 5-12, and 2-3 from behind the arc as well.
 
Overall, the buckets just wouldn't fall for the Cardinals in the second half, shooting 24% on field goals after the break.
 
The Cardinals will face Charleston in a WJU basketball double-header on Monday at 5:30