Box Score Wheeling, W.Va. – Wheeling Jesuit Women's Basketball, fresh off an upset victory of Fairmont State on Thursday night, faced the Shepherd University Rams (17-7 • 14-4 MEC), tied for first in the Mountain East Conference, for a Valentine's Day matinee in the McDonough Center.
 
Junior guard Jaila Bryant scored 6 of WJU's first 10 points to get the Cardinals out and running.  As play continued, the first half featured both teams up and down the court with neither team taking control of the game.  Sophomore forward Lydia Hyburg tied the game at 25-25 with 4:03 left in the half.  Shepherd went on a short 4 point burst at the 2-minute mark, but Wheeling Jesuit cut the lead to just 2 points on a Hyburg layup at the buzzer. 
 
Wheeling Jesuit was led in the first half by Hyburg and Bryant.  Hyburg had 11 points, six rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 13 minutes of play.  Bryant had eight points and five rebounds in 15 minutes of play.
 
Cara Mason and Gabby Flinchum, who each had 6 points in the first 20 minutes of play, led Shepherd.
 
Wheeling Jesuit outrebounded Shepherd 26 to 18 in the first half, yet Shepherd took a 2-point lead into the intermission, 31-29.
 
Freshman guard Mariah Callen hit a three pointer on Jesuit's first possession of the second half to take the lead immediately away from the Rams, 32-31.
 
Shepherd's Flinchum, who got into foul trouble in the first half, came into the game at the 17:06 mark of the second half.  Flinchum ran off 6 unanswered points as the Cardinals missed three layups in the paint.  Shepherd got out to a 6-point lead, 42-36.
 
Shepherd's Alex Weakland hit a three-pointer at 12:17 to stretch the Shepherd lead to 49-40.  WJU's Jaila Bryant battled back to hit a runner in the lane and hit the foul shot she was awarded after the bucket, to bring the lead back to 6.
 
Taylor Lubinsky hit a three-pointer and one of two foul shots at 10:53 to bring the Cardinals within 4 points, then Kylie Frizell put back the offensive rebound on the second foul shot miss by Lubinsky to cut the lead to 2.
 
One trip down the court later, Hyburg was fouled by Flinchum, giving her a third personal foul.  Hyburg hit both foul shots to tie the game 51-51.  Lubinsky hit a layup in the paint on the next trip down the floor for Jesuit and the Cardinals were up 53-51 with 9:28 left to play.
 
Flinchum took her fourth personal foul at the 7:01 mark when she fouled Motton in the lane.  Motton hit one of two foul shots to extend the Cardinal lead to 54-51.
 
Both teams battled down the stretch.  Junior guard Breanna Butler hit a clutch three-point shot at 5:07 to put the Cardinals up 59-54.
 
WJU stretched the lead to 67-58 on a pair of free throws by Butler with 2:08 left to play.  After one of two foul shots made by Jaana Motton on the next trip down the court for Jesuit, Shepherd's Morgan Arden hit a three-pointer to keep the game close at 68-63.
But Jesuit hit 8 of 10 foul shots in the final two minutes of the game to prevail 73-66.
 
Jesuit outshot Shepherd in the second half 43.3% to 39.4%.  Sophomore guard Jaana Motton played like a person possessed in the second half.  Motton finished the game with 8 points and 10 rebounds, but it was her tenacious play in the paint against one of the MEC's best players in Flinchum that propelled Jesuit to victory. 
 
Three other Jesuit players scored in double digits.  Bryant led all competitors on the court with 20 points, nine rebounds, two blocks, and two assists.  Hyburg finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, one assist, and one steal.  Finally, Butler finished the game with 11 points, two rebounds, and two steals.  Butler also went 4 for 4 from the foul line in the waning minutes of the game, coming up clutch when the Cardinals needed her most.
 
"We really did a good job of locking into the scout we had on Shepherd and stayed disciplined on the defensive end.  I was proud of how we fought back from being down by 9 points and hit some key shots.  We outrebounded them 51-33 and got some key offensive boards down the stretch.  At this point in the season, we have already tied last year's win total," stated Head Coach Deb Buff.
 
Final Score – Wheeling Jesuit 73 Shepherd 66.
 
The victory improved the overall record of Wheeling Jesuit Women's Basketball to 15-7 and 12-6 in the Mountain East Conference.  In the last week, WJU has taken down two #1 ranked teams in the Mountain East Conference.
 
Jesuit Women's Basketball returns to action when they travel to Glenville State University next Thursday Feb. 19^th for a 5:30 pm tipoff against the Pioneers. Jesuit's next home will be next Saturday Feb. 21^st at 2pm when they host West Virginia Wesleyan.