Greensburg, PA. – Coming into the weekend Wheeling University Women's Basketball coach Anna Kowalska was looking for her team to show their chemistry on the court. That chemistry was put on full display when the Cardinals (2-0, 0-0) took down host Seton Hill on Sunday 70-59. The Cardinals got everyone involved on the night, with nine different Cardinals contributing atleast two points on the night.
After Seton Hill scored the first two points of the night, the offense got going very quickly for the Cardinals. They would go on a 12-0 run that got them ahead 12-2 with Shamia Strayhorn and
Lauren Calhoun each scoring four points on the run. The run lasted the first five minutes of the quarter and during that time, the Cardinal's defense was stingy forcing bad shots by the Griffins and creating three turnovers to get the ball back in their shooters hands. After two points for the Griffins Calhoun completed a three-point play Carla Torrubia added a layup followed by a Bryana Henderson three-pointer and a pair of Kenzie Dalton free throws to make it 22-9 Wheeling after one. It was the second straight night where the defense allowed just single digits in the first quarter as they continued their strong start.
Kimora Pooler got the Cardinals started in the second with a layup as Seton Hill tried to battle back, making it 26-12. The Cardinals continued to add on throughout the quarter, scoring seven straight points to make it a 33-12 Cardinal's advantage. It would end up being a quarter of runs as Seton Hill got back to within 13 with eight straight points as the score sat at 33-20 in favor of Wheeling with 3:28 to play in the first half. Calhoun would be the one to stop the run with a layup and she would end up finishing the quarter with a layup for the Cardinals as they ended with 37 first half points. They went into halftime leading Seton Hill 37-24 as they were once again out to a strong start.
The third quarter would begin with Seton Hill coming to the line as they hit a pair of free throws to make it 37-26. A
Shanley Woods free throw got the scoring started for Wheeling and Shamia Strayhorn hit a jumper to get Wheeling to 40 points on the night. The Cardinals would add five more points in the quarter before the Griffins got back on the board to make it 45-26. Seton Hill would end the quarter with their biggest run of the afternoon, scoring 12 straight points and cutting the Cardinals lead to seven with 1:21 left in the quarter. The Cardinals needed a big shot and they would get it courtesy of Hannah Archer, who shot a three to make it a 10-point game. Archer added one more three pointer before the quarter wrapped up and Wheeling led 51-38 at the end of three.
Torrubia led the Cardinals with a jumper to start the fourth quarter and Wheeling scored five of the first seven points to extend their lead to 56-42. The Cardinals continued battling as Archer added her third three of the day as the team's went back and forth on an 11-9 stretch in favor of Seton Hill and Wheeling's lead was 65-51. Seton Hill would outscore Wheeling over the final 2:23 of the game, but the Cardinals lead stood up as they took the 70-59 win to improve to 2-0 on the season. The Cardinals proved they can go on runs when needed, and their fast paced offense early in games has been an assert as they have some comfort late in games.
Lauren Calhoun continued her strong start to the 2022-23 season, picking up her second double double. She led both the offense and the defense with a season-best 23 points and 17 rebounds to bring her total for the weekend to 35. Hannah Archer was up next with a career night, scoring 13 points, including three three-pointers, and Shamia Strayhorn added 10 points of her own. Kenzie Dalton finished behind Calhoun with six rebounds while also leading the Cardinals with eight assists. The Cardinals are now off to a 2-0 start to the season and have an exhibition on Monday before heading to their conference opener next Saturday against Notre Dame College.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team returns to the court on Saturday, November 19th, when they open Mountain East Conference (MEC) play against Notre Dame College.
