WHEELING, W.Va. (Feb. 27) – The Wheeling Jesuit University women's basketball team was defeated 86-76 Wednesday evening in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) game inside the McDonough Center.
 
The Cardinals drop to 4-23 overall, 2-19 in the MEC. Meanwhile, the Blue Knights up their league record to 3-17, 3-21 overall this season.
 
Senior forward Chenelle Moore (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) led the way with a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds. She also dished out a team-best four assists.
 
Junior guard Khira Burton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) tossed in 15 points, while sophomore guard Rya Nelson (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) posted a season-high with 10 points.
 
The Blue Knights were the aggressor in the first half, opening up an 18-5 lead after the first six minutes. Urbana continued to take advantage of open looks inside the arc and went into the second quarter with a 25-10 advantage.
 
The Cardinals drew back within 10, 35-25, with a 13-8 spurt which included six points from Nelson. WJU was unable to seize momentum in the half, as the Blue Knights knocked down all five of their attempts from the field to close out the half and take a 45-28 lead into the locker rooms.
 
Urbana added to its lead in the third quarter and built up a 53-31 advantage with 6:39 left in the period. Despite the deficit, the Cardinals went on to out-score the Blue Knights 16-8 to close out the quarter trailing 61-47.
 
Wheeling Jesuit got as close as 11, 74-63, at the 4:23-mark of the fourth quarter, but a quick 7-2 run by Urbana put the game away at 81-65 with 2:30 left to play. The Cardinals made a late run to draw back within single-digits before the clock expired.
 
The Cardinals close out the season on Saturday, March 2 when they welcome Ohio County rival West Liberty to the McDonough Center in the season-finale at 2 p.m.