WHEELING, W.Va. (Nov. 26) – Led by three players in double-digits, the Wheeling Jesuit University women's basketball team defeated Pitt-Johnstown 82-67 on Monday night in a non-conference game at the McDonough Center.
WJU improves to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) standings with the win, while UPJ drops to 3-2 overall with loss.Junior Khira Burton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) led all players in scoring with 22 points. She also dished out five assists and came up with four steals. Junior Taliah Cashwell (South Charleston, W.Va./South Charleston) put up a season-high 17 points. Despite only playing 19 minutes due to foul trouble, senior Chenelle Moore (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) registered her fifth double-double of the season by scoring 10 points and grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds.
Wheeling Jesuit took its largest lead of the first half when freshman center Alysa Edwards-Frick (Zanesville, Ohio/Tri-Valley) made a layup to put the Cardinals up 27-17 with 7:33 remaining in the second quarter. Pitt-Johnstown rallied back to tie the game with 21-seconds left in the first half. Freshman guard Allie Taylor (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg South) made a layup in the final second of the second quarter to give Wheeling Jesuit a 41-39 advantage going into halftime.
The Cardinals jumped out in front of the Mountain Lions in the third quarter. WJU went on a 20-6 run that began with a Burton layup off of a turnover and lasted for five minutes. Wheeling Jesuit grabbed their largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter, going up 82-67 with 27 seconds remaining in the game.
The Cardinals scored 28 points off turnovers and 25 second chance points. They had 19 offensive rebounds compared to Pitt-Johnstown's nine. Wheeling Jesuit spent 35-minutes with the lead, as opposed to the Mountain Cats who managed to hold the lead for under two minutes.
The Mountain Cats also had three players score in double-figures. Alli McGrath was their leading scorer with 17 points.
The Cardinals will welcome Notre Dame (Ohio) to the McDonough Center in their next game on Wednesday, November 28. The MEC clash is set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m.
