Women's Basketball 3/10/2016 7:06:00 PM Chris Myers

Cardinals Postseason Ride Heads to Richmond for NCAA DII Atlantic Regional

Atlantic Regional Tournament Central
RICHMOND, Va. – After running through a trio of Mountain East Conference foes last weekend, the Wheeling Jesuit women's basketball postseason ride heads to Richmond and the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional.

The MEC Tournament champion Cardinals (26-5) earned the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic Regional and they will face No. 5 seed West Chester (21-7) Friday night at 7:30 p.m. on the campus of top seed Virginia Union. The regional will be in Barco-Stevens Hall.

WJU versus West Chester will be the fourth and final game of the Friday slate.

First Round Matchups – Friday, March 11, 2016
12:00 p.m.           No. 6 Shaw (24-7) vs. No. 3 West Liberty (27-4)
2:30 p.m.             No. 7 Chowan (20-8) vs. No. 2 California (Pa.) (24-5)
5:00 p.m.             No. 8 Indiana (Pa.) (21-8) vs. No. 1 Virginia Union (25-2)
7:30 p.m.             No. 5 West Chester (21-7) vs. No. 4 Wheeling Jesuit (26-5)

The Atlantic Regional semifinals will be held on Saturday, March 12, and final Monday night, March 14.

The Cardinals sealed their first NCAA Tournament appearance in over a decade when they upset the top seed Hilltoppers of West Liberty, 70-66, in the MEC Tournament Championship last Sunday afternoon.

WJU has won 12 of its last 14 contests and bounced back for its three MEC Tournament wins after it suffered a pair of losses to end the regular season.

West Chester claimed the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division regular season title. The Golden Rams won its PSAC Tournament first round matchup over East Stroudsburg (70-65), but fell in the semifinals to Indiana, Pa. (77-64).

MEC Tournament MVP Jaila Bryant leads the Cardinals into Friday's Atlantic Regional. The senior guard averages 15.2 points while she has handed out 102 assists and stole 45 balls.

All-MEC point guard Mariah Callen is the team's other double-figure point producer at 11.4 ppg. The sophomore also has a team-best 51 treys and 99 assists.

On the inside, freshman Chenelle Moore and junior Jaana Motton paces WJU. Moore contributes 9.4 points and pulls down 6.3 rebounds. MEC All-Tournament member Motton holds an 8.7-point and 7.2-rebound average.

Super-sub Kylie Frizell also has averaged 10.0 points over the last seven Cardinals games. The junior hits for 7.8 points and drained 45 long-range 3-pointers.

West Chester takes a senior-laden team into Friday's matchup. The Golden Rams' four seniors – Brittany Sicinski, Dallas Ely, Kendall Benovy and Anna Kuntz – are all scoring in double digit.

Sicinski is the top WCU scorer at 16.6 points and assist person (124 assists). Ely joins her in the backcourt at 13.7 ppg and 48 treys.

Inside Benovy (11.1 ppg and 7.4 rpg) and Kuntz (10.3 ppg and 8.1 rpg) both make over .500 of their attempts from the field.

-GoCards-

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