SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals women's basketball team was unable to erase its early deficit, 18-6, to the Falcons of Notre Dame College, and fell by a score of 74-62 Thursday night.
The Cardinals (23-4, 18-3 MEC) last loss came back on January 21 and they entered tonight's game on a nine-game winning streak. Notre Dame (19-8, 16-5 MEC) finished the night shooting 36 percent from three-point range (8-21) and 87 percent (14-16) from the free throw line.
"We got off to a slow start and began to press too hard," WJU head coach Debbie Buff stated. "I thought we played hard in the second half. Jaana played well for us. We knew Notre Dame was a good team coming in. We will bounce back and will be playing for a share of the title on Saturday."
The Cardinals fell behind early, and lost the quarter to the Falcons by 12 points. WJU cut the Falcon lead to six points, 21-27, off of a Chenelle Moore jumper late in the second quarter before Notre Dame scored the last five points to take an 11-point margin into the half.
Notre Dame outscored WJU 23-18 in the third period to take a 16-point advantage into the final 10 minutes of play.
Kylie Frizell netted one of her two treys in the game with 8:14 remaining, cutting the Falcon lead to 11. Jaana Motton chipped in a layup with 4:37 on the clock to shrink the Notre Dame lead to 10 points, 64-54.
Freshman Damonique Patterson knocked in a jumper on the next possession, and the Cardinals trailed by just eight points.
The Cardinals committed crucial turnovers down the stretch and were unable to comeback from the early deficit, as they fell to the Falcons, 74-62.
Jaana Motton led WJU with an impressive 20 points on 9-12 shooting. The junior forward also secured a team-high six rebounds.
Fellow junior Kylie Frizell joined Motton in double figures. Frizell finished with 10 points, including two treys, while handing out an assist and grabbing three boards.
Mariah Callen and Chenelle Moore each supplied WJU with nine points. Callen added four rebounds and dished out five assists. Moore recorded three rebounds.
Jaila Bryant and Cassi Stein combined for eight points on the night. Bryant notched all four of her points from the free throw line, while Stein made two jumpers.
Bryant collected five rebounds, handed out four assists, and swiped four steals on the night. Stein also secured five boards while handing out two assists.
Taylor Lubinsky, Damonique Patterson, and Lydia Hyburg all chipped in two points for WJU. Lubinsky grabbed three boards while Hyburg pulled in two.
WJU completes MEC regular-season play on Saturday, February 27 with a contest at West Liberty University. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.
