WHEELING, W.Va. (Jan. 15) – The Wheeling University women's basketball team earned a 64-60 win over Frostburg State in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) contest inside the McDonough Center Wednesday evening.
 
The Cardinals improve to 5-10 overall, 4-5 in league play. The Bobcats, playing in their first season of Division II competition, drop to 1-8 in the MEC, 2-13 overall.
 
Senior guard Khira Burton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) finished with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting to lead the Cardinals. Sophomore forward Lilly Ritz (Cambridge, Ohio/Cambridge) finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, despite playing just four minutes of the first half after picking up two early fouls. Senior guard Taliah Cashwell (South Charleston, W.Va./South Charleston) also finished in double figures with 11 points.
 
Wheeling never trailed in the first quarter and eventually took a 14-9 lead after a Burton transition bucket with 1:35 left in the period. Frostburg State managed to answer by knocking down a pair of shots to tie the game at 16-16 heading into the second quarter.
 
Both teams exchanged runs in the second period with both teams taking control of the lead. Frostburg State's Victoria Diggs drained a trey in the final 15 seconds to give the Bobcats the lead, but a last-second basket by freshman guard Iyauna Bonner (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) helped lift Wheeling to a 36-35 edge at halftime.
 
The Cardinals trailed 45-44 with 4:21 to play in the third quarter. Ritz scored five of the next eight Wheeling points to help give the home team a 52-50 lead entering the fourth quarter.
 
Wheeling built its largest lead of the game, 56-50, when freshman guard Emily Holzopfel (Rayland, Ohio/Buckeye Local) knocked down a shot with 7:41 left in the game. The Cardinals led by at least two possessions up until the final minute of the contest. With the score 60-58, freshman forward Jacqui Hinesmon (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) drained a three pointer with 13 seconds left to put the game away and propel Wheeling to the win.
 
The score was tied nine times and the lead changed 10 times in the contest.
 
Frostburg State held the edge on the glass, 34-24, but the Cardinals managed to force 25 turnovers. Wheeling converted 25 points off of those takeaways.
 
Diggs led the Bobcats with 19 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
 
Wheeling hits the road on Saturday, January 18 to take on Fairmont State in a MEC game at 2 p.m.