WHEELING, W.Va. (Feb. 8) – The Wheeling University women's basketball team was dealt an 82-53 loss by No. 5 Charleston Monday evening inside the McDonough Center.
 
The setback drops the Cardinals to 5-5 this season. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles improve to 10-0 overall.
 
Junior forward Lilly Ritz (Cambridge, Ohio/Cambridge) led Wheeling with her 25^th-straight double-double. She posted 20 points and 22 rebounds in the loss and now ranks second all-time in Division II history with 25-straight games with a double-double. The all-time record is 34-straight games, which was established by Kari Daugherty of Ashland over the course of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
 
Freshman guard Haley Cox (Grove City, Ohio/Central Crossing) added 10 points and three rebounds in the loss.
 
The Cardinals matched the Golden Eagles shot-for-shot early on and were tied 9-9 through the first seven minutes. Charleston enjoyed a 20-10 advantage with 1:15 to play in the first quarter, before a pair of treys by sophomore guard Emily Holzopfel (Rayland, Ohio/Buckeye Local) sliced the deficit down to 20-16 at the end of the period.
 
A three-pointer by freshman guard Shanley Woods (Wheeling, W.Va./Park) made the score 26-23 with 7:15 to play in the first half. Charleston went on to out-score the Cardinals 14-6 down the stretch to take a 40-29 lead into halftime.
 
The Golden Eagles did not allow Wheeling to get closer than the halftime score and claimed the win to remain unbeaten this season.
 
Brooklyn Pannell scored half of Charleston's points. She finished with 41 on 14 of 23 shooting, including six three pointers.
 
The Cardinals will look to get back on track on Wednesday, February 10 when they climb the hill to take on West Liberty at 5 p.m.