WHEELING, W.Va. (March 6) – Despite holding a second half lead, the Cardinals were dealt a 71-55 loss by top-seed Charleston in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament Semifinals Saturday afternoon inside the WesBanco Arena.
The Wheeling University women's basketball team ends the season at 9-9 overall. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles improve to 16-2 this season and advances to play Glenville State in the MEC Championship Game on Sunday.
Junior Jacqui Hinesmon (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) led the Cardinals with a season-high 14 points. Junior forward Lilly Ritz (Cambridge, Ohio/Cambridge) registered her 32nd-straight double-double, but was held to a season-low 12 points to go with 14 rebounds.
The Cardinals led for the majority of the first half and entered halftime with a 33-27 lead.
"We played a great first half against a really good team," Wheeling Head Coach Mike Llanas said. "We had some kids step up. Lilly (Ritz) had a great half and our sophomore, Jacqui Hinesmon, had a really good half going 3-for-4 from the field and 3-for-3 from the line. We were in a great position and that put a lot of pressure on them coming out in the second half."
The game was tied at 37-37 with 6:10 to play in the third quarter when MEC Player of the Year Brooklyn Pannell picked up her fourth foul of the game. The Cardinals however did not take advantage. Chareston streaked past Wheeling and built a 52-40 lead by the end of the quarter.
Charleston continued to build their lead in the fourth quarter to eliminate the Cardinals from the tournament. Wheeling converted on only 8-of-27 second-half field goals (30 percent), while the Golden Eagles shot 16 of 30 from the field (53 percent).
"They got some second-chance opportunities in the second half and I thought Anastasiia (Zakharova) really made some plays for them. She was really active. She knocked down a couple of shots from the perimeter, she rebounded and drove to the basket pretty hard and drew some fouls. She really helped propel their comeback."
Wheeling shot 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from the field in the first two quarters and locked down defensively on UC holding the Golden Eagles to a 9-of-34 performance (26.5 percent).
"They did a really good job of sending an extra player down on me and at times I didn't see them," Ritz said. "They also did a good job of getting in the passing lanes."
MEC Player of the Year Brooklyn Pannell finished with a season-low seven points. It was the first time this season that she did not score in double figures for the Golden Eagles.
