BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (Dec. 7) – A second half surge helped the Wheeling University women's basketball team earn a 67-58 win at West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) game.
 
The win improves the Cardinals to 1-3 in the MEC, 2-5 overall. Meanwhile, the Bobcats drop to 3-5 overall, 1-3 in league play.
 
Sophomore forward Lilly Ritz (Cambridge, Ohio/Cambridge) led the team with 17 points and eight rebounds. Freshman guard Maura Castelluci (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while senior forward Lauren Lipscomb (Columbus, Ohio/Pickerington North) added 10 points in the win.
 
Both teams got off to slow shooting starts through the first five minutes. Wheeling opened up a 17-9 lead with the help of 10-unanswered points at the one-minute mark of the first quarter, before taking a 17-12 lead into the break.
 
West Virginia Wesleyan controlled the second quarter and outscored Wheeling 16-6 and took a 28-23 lead into halftime.
 
The Bobcats built their lead to double digits, 37-27, three minutes into the second half. Wheeling began to chip away at the deficit and eventually closed the gap to two, 42-39, entering the final quarter.
 
The Cardinals had an offensive outburst in the final 10 minutes. Castelluci brought the game even at 45-45 with 7:26 left in the game on a trey and then gave the team the lead on another triple a minute later that made the score 50-49.
 
After Wesleyan tied the game up at 52, Wheeling dominated down the stretch. The Cardinals outscored the Bobcats 15-6 over the final five minutes to pull away for the victory.
 
Wheeling shot 26-of-58 (45 percent) from the field, compared to the 21-of-63 (33 percent) shooting effort of West Virginia Wesleyan.
 
The Bobcats were led by a 24-point effort by Nicole Gilyard. No other players scored in double-figures for Wesleyan.
 
The Cardinals hit the road again on Wednesday, December 11 to take on West Virginia State in Institute for a 5:30 p.m. tip.