WHEELING, W.Va. (Jan. 13) - The Wheeling University women's basketball team was defeated by Malone University 70-61 at the McDonough Center Monday evening in a non-conference matchup.
 
The Cardinals fall to an overall record of 4-10 while the Pioneers improve to 10-5 on the season.
 
Sophomore forward Lilly Ritz (Cambridge, Ohio/Cambridge) notched the first 20-20 game of her career by scoring 22 points with a career-high 21 rebounds (eight offensive). Senior guard Taliah Cashwell (South Charleston, W.Va. / South Charleston) knocked down a career-high five three pointers to tally 15 points, while classmate Khira Burton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) finished with 11 points in the loss.
 
Both teams started slow and the Cardinals managed to take a 13-8 after the first quarter. Wheeling shot 5-of-13 (38 percent), while the Pioneers were limited to just 2-of-18 (11 percent) from the field in the first quarter and 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.
 
Malone rebounded from the slow start and assumed the lead three minutes into the second quarter and never looked back. A three pointer with 7:09 left on the clock in the period put the Pioneers up two and was the start to a 17-5 run that built up a 32-21 in the final minute of the first half. A three pointer by freshman Iyauna Bonner (Columbus, Ohio / Northland) to close out the half cut the lead to eight, 32-24, heading into the break.
 
Both squads traded buckets in the third quarter and each team scored 12 points to push the score to 44-36 heading into the fourth. Malone was able to push its lead to 11, 49-38, with five-straight points to open the final quarter. The Cardinals managed to cut the deficit all the way down to three, 56-53, on a basket-and-one by Ritz with just under two minutes to go in the game, but Malone sunk all 12 of its free-throw attempts to close out the game and notch the victory.
 
Wheeling managed to limit the Pioneers to 17-of-64 (27 percent) shooting, including a 5-of-26 (19 percent) showing from long range, but Malone won the contest by knocking down 31-of-35 (87 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
The Pioneers were led by guards Robin Campbell and Holly Groff who finished with 20 and 18 points, respectfully.
 
Wheeling is back in action on Wednesday, January 15 as the Bobcats from Frostburg State travel to Wheeling and the McDonough Center to take on the Cardinals in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) matchup scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.