Box Score Fairmont, W.Va.---The Wheeling Jesuit women's basketball team traveled to Fairmont, W.Va. for the first round of the 2013 WVIAC Women's Basketball Tournament on Monday evening. Unfortunately, the No. 13 seeded Cardinals' season came to an end as the No. 3 seeded Falcons of Fairmont State University claimed a 83-47 victory at Joe Retton Arena.
 
WJU finished the year with an 8-19 overall record which is a three-win improvement from the previous season. Jesuit also improved their conference record as the 2013 squad completed the campaign with a 5-17 mark, opposed to a 2-20 league performance from a year ago.
 
Jaila Bryant led Wheeling Jesuit's offense with 12 points, and Taneka Lewis followed with nine points. Bryant and Lewis added four rebounds apiece. Jamie Sobczak pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds with eight points, and Alex Anderson grabbed nine boards with six points. Kelsey Pacholke chipped in four points while Rachael Smetzler and Breanna Butler tallied three points each. Emily Robinson rounded out the scoring with two points.
 
The Falcons opened the game with a 14-4 run and extended the lead to 21-4 before Bryant ended FSU's scoring outburst. Butler followed with a 3-pointer, however, Fairmont State closed out the first half with a 42-16 advantage. In the second half, the Falcons extended the lead to as many as 35 points with a stellar 57-percent shooting performance (31-for-54) from the floor which included a 44-percent clip (8-for-18) from beyond the 3-point stripe. FSU added a 72-percent effort (13-for-18) from the free throw line.
 
Wheeling Jesuit and Fairmont State earned a split decision on the glass as both teams secured 41 rebounds.
 
Emily Lohr led Fairmont State with 17 points, and Hailey Garrett followed with 16 points. Kaitlin Snyder and Hallie Gunnoe completed the double-digit scoring with 11 and 10, respectively.
 
With the win, the Falcons advanced to the quarterfinal round of the season finale which will be held at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, W.Va. The No.3 Falcons will play the No.11 Bobcats of West Virginia Wesleyan College on Wednesday evening at 8:30 p.m.
 
The Cardinals plan to keep the program moving forward as the young squad, consisting of two juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen, laid a solid foundation and gained valuable experiences for the future. WJU battled night-in and night-out with several outstanding performances which included a season sweep of Ohio Valley University and victories over Slippery Rock University, Urbana University, the University of Pitt-Johnstown, Salem International University, Concord University and Davis & Elkins College.