WHEELING, W.Va. (March 2) - A lay-up at the buzzer was the difference in the Cardinals 73-72 loss to West Liberty Saturday afternoon at the McDonough Center on Senior Day.
The Wheeling Jesuit University women's basketball team closes out the season at 4-24 overall, 2-20 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers improve to 20-8 overall, 17-5 in league play this season.
Wheeling Jesuit led 72-71 with three seconds on the clock. West Liberty advanced the ball to half-court following a timeout and worked the ball into the post, where Hilltopper forward Marissa Brown converted a layup at the buzzer to help her team survive the upset-minded Cardinals.
Senior
Chenelle Moore (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) led WJU with her 17th double-double of the season. She posted a season-high 34 points to go with 10 rebounds and five steals. Junior forward
Lauren Lipscomb (Columbus, Ohio/Pickerington North) posted 11 points and six boards, while classmate
Taliah Cashwell (South Charleston, W.Va./South Charleston) added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Wheeling Jesuit came out of the gates with 10-straight points to force a Hilltopper time out three minutes into the game. West Liberty shrugged off their early struggles and responded with a 14-5 run to close within one, 15-14, at the end of the first quarter.
West Liberty out-scored the Cardinals 11-6 during the first five minutes of the second quarter to open up its biggest lead of the first half at 25-19 with 4:51 until halftime. Wheeling Jesuit closed the gap and tied the game back up at 27 on a Lipscomb trey with just over a minute to play in the first half, before the Hilltoppers eventually took a 32-28 lead into the break.
The third quarter went back-and-forth with both teams exchanging runs. The Cardinals trailed 41-36 with 5:11 on the clock, but eight-unanswered points allowed the home team to regain the lead at 44-41 with 2:48 left in the third quarter.
WJU opened up the fourth quarter with a 47-45 lead. The lead changed hands several times with four tie scores over the first seven minutes of the period, leading to a tie game at 65-65 with 2:36 remaining on the clock. West Liberty knocked down a three pointer to take a 68-63 lead at the 1:53-mark, but a trio of baskets by Moore, including a traditional three-point play, gave the Cardinals a 72-71 lead with 14 seconds remaining in the game. WJU had a chance to extend its lead following a missed layup by West Liberty, but were unable to convert at the free-throw line, leading to their go-ahead basket as time expired.
WLU's Brown led her team with 24 points, 16 rebounds and nine blocks. Audrey Tingle also added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Wheeling Jesuit forced West Liberty into 19 turnovers and converted 18 second-chance points off of 14 offensive rebounds.
Prior to the game, the Cardinals honored both Moore and senior
Aaliyah Sadler (Austintown, Ohio/Austintown Fitch) for their contributions to the program. Moore graduates with 1,361 points (eighth all-time in school history) and 936 rebounds in her career.
