WISE, Va. (Feb. 9) – The Wheeling Jesuit University women's basketball team went up by as many as 15 points, but were ultimately defeated by UVa-Wise 65-59 at the David J. Prior Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals drop to 1-15 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC), 3-19 overall with the loss. The Cavaliers progress to 10-12 overall and an even 8-8 in league play with the win.
Junior guard Taliah Cashwell (South Charleston, W.Va./South Charleston) shot four-of-five from three-point land on her way to a team-high 14 points. Fellow junior guard Khira Burton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) also posted 14 points, while freshman forward Peyton McCord (Mt. Vernon, Ohio/Mt. Vernon) added 10 points to make three Cardinals scoring in double digits.
The first quarter was split evenly, with each team going on unanswered scoring runs to retake the lead. Burton hit a jumper in the closing seconds to tie the game at 13-13.
The second period opened with the Cardinals draining back-to-back three-pointers. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers could not convert any of their seven attempts from three-point range in the second quarter. The result was a 30-25 advantage for Wheeling Jesuit going into halftime.
UVa-Wise made three consecutive jumpers at the start of the third quarter to go up 31-30. The Cardinals replied with a scoring run of their own: a 15-4 stretch that lasted for nearly six minutes.
Junior forward Lauren Lipscomb (Columbus, Ohio/Pickerington North) knocked down a shot from beyond the arc in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the game, 52-37. The Cavaliers refused to go down without a fight and went on a 19-3 run to reclaim the lead. Sophomore Ada Stanley came up with three huge baskets at the end of the contest to ensure that UVa-Wise completed the comeback victory.
The Cavaliers made 19 free throws and shot 83 percent from the line to get the edge over Wheeling Jesuit.
Stanley tallied a game-high 23 points. Junior Cynita Webb came down with a game-high 12 boards and added 18 points to record a double-double.
Wheeling Jesuit will travel to the state's capital on Thursday, February 14 for a conference matchup against Charleston. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m.
