Box Score Charleston, W.Va. – The Wheeling Jesuit Women's Basketball team squared off against the Fairmont State Falcons in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 Mountain East Conference Basketball Tournament, hosted in Charleston, W.Va. 
 
During the regular season, Fairmont State got the better of the Cardinals winning 87-79 in the first meeting.  A month later, the Cardinals returned the favor and defeated the Falcons 68-64. 
 
Wheeling Jesuit entered tonight's game as the #4 seed, while Fairmont State entered as the #5 seed and advanced after defeating Urbana in their first round match.
 
Two three-pointers by junior guard Taylor Lubinsky got Jesuit out to a 9 point lead with 9:40 left in the first half. Jesuit pushed the lead to 13 points on a Lydia Hyburg layup in the paint with 6:22 left.
 
Fairmont State managed to cut into Jesuit's lead by five points.  The Cardinals went into the intermission up 39-31.
 
Junior guard Jaila Bryant led the Cardinals in the first half, hitting 5 of 6 from the field for 10 points, five assists, and three rebounds.  Freshman guard Mariah Callen had six points, two assists, and a rebound.  Finally, sophomore forward Lydia Hyburg had 6 points and three rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
As a team, the Cardinals outshot Fairmont State 65.4% to 37.5% from the field in the first half.  The Cardinals also had 19 rebounds to Fairmont State's 12.  The Cardinals also dominated the points in the paint category.  Jesuit scored 24 points in the paint in the first half, while Fairmont State only managed eight.
 
Fairmont State came out gunning in the second half.  The Falcons cut the Jesuit lead to 41-38 just 2 minutes into the second half.  Jesuit's Jaana Motton elevated her game and scored two baskets to push the Jesuit lead back to seven points.
 
Jaila Bryant hit a pair of shots on two successive trips down the court to push the Jesuit lead to nine, 53-44, with 14:22 left.
 
The Cardinals got Hailey Garrett to foul out of the game for Fairmont State, creating a mismatch inside.  With 7:06 left to play, Bryant drove the length of the floor for a layup that put the Cardinals up 68-55 with 7:06 left to play.
 
Fairmont State drew within 9 points with 3:58 left to play.  Kylie Frizell then hit 1 of two foul shots to go up by 10.  On the next trip down the court Fairmont State's Hallie Gunnoe hit a three pointer, and the Jesuit lead was 7.
 
Jesuit kept the pressure on.  The next possession down the court Lydia Hyburg put back a shot that missed and the Cardinals were up 73-64.  
 
Bryant iced the game at the 1:12 mark with a layup that ended the Falcons 2014-15 season. 


The Cardinals hit 11of 14 foul shots down the stretch to put the game away, 85-76. 
 
Bryant, who excelled on both ends of the court and demonstrated the leadership required in games of this magnitude, finished the game with 23 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in 32 minutes of play.  Lydia Hyburg played her best game of the season, scoring 19 points, pulling down six rebounds, and went 3 of 3 from the foul line.  Callen, who played tenacious in her first Mountain East tournament, played big in her 24 minutes on the court.   Callen scored 12 points, two assists, one rebound, and finished 7 of 7 from the foul line.   Finally, Motton had 10 points rounding out the Cardinals' double digit scoring.
 
Jesuit dominated the paint in the game.  The Cardinals scored 50 points in the paint.  At the final buzzer, WJU shot 57.7% from the field compared to Fairmont State's 40.6%.
 
"We had three good days of practice coming into tonight's game.  We really believe in each other as a team, believed in the scout, and played the way we coached them to tonight," stated Head Coach Deb Buff.  "I am proud of our team from top to bottom.  Every player had a role in this game and provided the energy we needed to propel us to victory," added Buff.
 
The victory improves the overall record of Jesuit Women's Basketball to 19-8.  With the victory, Jesuit moves onto the semifinal round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament and will play Saturday at 12noon against West Liberty University.  The two teams split during the regular season.