Wheeling, W. Va. - All good things must come to an end and, for the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (11-8, 9-4) it was the end of their five-game winning streak on Wednesday night. They look to get back to their winning ways on Saturday as they hit the road to face Davis & Elkins with tip-off at 2 PM. The race for the Mountain East Conference (MEC) playoffs continues to heat up and the Cardinals look to keep pace with some of the top schools in the conference.
Last time out, the Cardinals battled against West Virginia Wesleyan but, in the end would fall in a tight 58-55 affair. Both defenses were working early on, with the teams combining for just 13 points over the first four minutes of the game. West Virginia Wesleyan would end that quarter with a slight 19-17 advantage as the battle began. It would ultimately come down to the game's final seven and a half minutes, with the Cardinals trailing 47-42. Wheeling battled back to make it a 47-47 game, but that would be as close as they would get as a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining sealed the Cardinals fate. They fell 58-55, dropping their record to 9-4 in conference play and moving into a three-way tie with Fairmont State and West Liberty for third in the conference.
After just missing a double double last time out, senior Lauren Calhoun got back at it with her 12th of the year as she led the offense. She finished the night with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead both sides of the ball for the Cardinals. Calhoun played big in the Cardinal's comeback effort, scoring seven of those 15 points over the final 20 minutes of the game, including six points during the third quarter as the Cardinals retook the lead. Calhoun brought her season average to 18.7 points per game and continues to climb the scoring leaders list in the MEC. She currently sits as the fourth leading scorer in the conference behind Alyssa DeAngelo (Fairmont State), Arianna Manzay (West Liberty), and Emilee Weakley (Frostburg State) as she continues to be one of the best players in the conference.
It was also a big game for fellow senior Jacqui Hinesmon, who got into double figures for the fourth time in the last seven games. She finished with 10 points on the night to go along with five rebounds and was the Cardinals most consistent shooter at 5-7 from the floor. Since the start of the 2023 portion of the schedule, Hinesmon has turned it on, averaging 8.8 points per game and playing big for the Cardinals under the net. Kenzie Dalton continued her success in the passing game, leading the way with six assists. She kept pace with West Virginia State's Hannah Shriver and remains six assists behind the Yellow Jacket's star for the conference lead in assists.
The loss dropped the Cardinals to 9-4 in conference play, but they are still right in the thick of the race for the conference championship. They currently sit in a three-way tie for the #3 spot in the conference with Fairmont State and West Liberty and all three sit one game back of West Virginia State's 10-3 record. Leading the pack is Glenville State, who earned that top spot with a win over the Yellow Jackets on Saturday, giving the conference a sole leader for just the second time this season. With nine games left on the regular season schedule, Wheeling is looking to make a push for that top spot in the conference heading into WesBanco arena.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Senators are meeting for the 23rd time in program history on Saturday as they wrap up the 2022-23 season series. As the series shifts to Elkins, West Virginia, the Cardinals hold the all-time series record at 16-6 and lead the way in road matchups with a record of 5-2. The two teams have split each of the last four matchups and Wheeling has won four of the last six meetings between the two teams.
In their last meeting, Wheeling picked up a 75-68 win inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center back on November 30th. It was a big night for sophomore Shanley Woods in the first matchup as she scored 22 points and went 7-15 from three-point range. Lauren Calhoun finished right behind her with 21 points on the day to round out the Cardinal's offense.
The Details
Tip-off for Saturday's game is scheduled for 2 PM inside the McDonnell Center on the campus of Davis & Elkins. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats for HERE.
