WHEELING, W.Va. (March 4) – The No. 7 seed Wheeling University women's basketball team secured a 69-60 win over No. 10 seed Davis & Elkins in an opening round game of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament Wednesday afternoon at WesBanco Arena.
The Cardinals improve to 11-18 overall and advance to the quarterfinal round where they will meet No. 2 seed Notre Dame (Ohio) tomorrow, Thursday, February 5 at 12 p.m. inside WesBanco Arena. Meanwhile, the Senators close out their first season in the MEC at 7-22 overall.
Sophomore forward
Lilly Ritz (Cambridge, Ohio/Cambridge) posted 20 points and established a new MEC Tournament record with 20 rebounds (six offensive) to lead the Cardinals. Senior guard
Taliah Cashwell (South Charleston, W.Va./South Charleston) finished with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Senior forward
Lauren Lipscomb (Columbus, Ohio/Pickerington North) added 15 points, while classmate
Khira Burton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) chipped in 14 points.
The Cardinals were on a roll early and a trey by Cashwell with 4:15 to play in the first quarter had Wheeling ahead 14-5 and forced a D&E timeout. The Cards led by as many as 11 in the quarter and eventually took a 22-13 lead into the first intermission.
Wheeling maintained the lead and did not allow the Senators to go on a big run in the second quarter. The Cardinals looked poised going into halftime with eight-straight points, including a triple from freshman guard
Emily Holzopfel (Rayland, Ohio/Buckeye Local) with a minute left in the half, to take a 36-21 lead into the locker rooms.
The Cardinals built their largest lead of the game at 16, 44-28, with 4:06 left in the third quarter and appeared to be on their way to an easy victory. Davis & Elkins started to chip away at the lead and managed to get back within single digits, 48-39, at the end of the third quarter.
Wheeling rebuilt its lead back to 14, 58-44, with 5:45 left in the game. Davis & Elkins went on to out-score the Cardinals 16-5 over the next five minutes to pull all the way back to within one possession at 63-60 with 33 seconds on the clock. Wheeling put the game away by making all four of its attempts at the free-throw line down the stretch to secure the nine-point win and advance.
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 25-of-52 (48 percent) and drained 5-of-10 from long distance. Davis & Elkins shot just 21-of-63 (33 percent) and made only 2-of-15 (13 percent) from beyond-the-arc.
The game featured the No. 1 and No. 2 rebounders in Division II women's basketball in Ritz and Senator forward Jamiyah Johnson. Johnson led D&E with 14 points and 16 rebounds in the losing effort.
The Cardinals will return to the court tomorrow, Thursday, March 5 to take on No. 2 seed Notre Dame. The Falcons won both meetings with Wheeling this season. The opening tip from WesBanco Arena is slated for 12 p.m.
