Box Score
 
WHEELING, W.Va. – The Wheeling Jesuit women's basketball team came out firing against the Shepherd Rams on Saturday, and made clutch shots down the stretch to take a 92-83 victory.
 
The win moves the Cardinals to .500 on the season at 7-7, and improves them 4-6 in Mountain East Conference play.
 
"Our three points of focus tonight were to be aggressive (which I think we were), control the tempo and control the ball, and to have balanced scoring. I think we did a good job of doing just that," said WJU head coach Debbie Buff. "Overall I think it was a great team effort. It puts us at 7-7 with West Lib around the corner."
 
WJU's #2 Emily Robinson came out and scored the first nine points of the game, going 3-3 from behind the three-point arc to put plenty of momentum in the Cardinals corner. Just minutes later Robinson hit another clutch three to go 4-4 on threes, leading to 14 first-half points, and giving the Cardinals a 50-45 halftime advantage.
 
WJU was hot shooting as a whole in the opening half, shooting nearly 60% from the three-point line, and 49% from the field.
 
The Cardinals continued their hot shooting, but also did a better job of penetrating to the basket and finding the open shooter, leading to a balanced attack of six players scoring in double digits. Shepherd went on several scoring runs but clutch shots from the always reliable Breanna Butler and Janna Motton, among others, kept the Cardinals in the drivers seat.
 
Jaila Bryant made her return from a concussion, making an impact in the second half with 14 points after the break.
 
Leading the Cardinals in the stats column was Breanna Butler who finished with 19, followed closely by Robinson who finished with 17 following her opening three-point bonanza. Motton finished with 10, as did Kylie Frizell, and Taylor Lubinsky finished with 11.
 
The Cardinals will now turn their focus to West Liberty who sits just above them in the Mountain East conference standings in 8^th place.