Wheeling, W. Va. - The 2023 portion of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) schedule came to a close on Saturday afternoon as the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (8-1, 4-1) played host to the University of Charleston. After falling behind early, the Cardinals made a push over the final three quarters, but it wasn't enough as they fell to the Golden Eagles 66-53. It was the first loss of the season for the Cardinals, as the defense continued their strong showing, holding their opponent to under 70 points for the eighth time in the first nine games this season. 

The Golden Eagles' defense came to play early on, holding the Cardinals off the board for almost three minutes to start the game. A timeout by Head Coach Anna Kowalska got Wheeling back on track as they broke through with a Rachel Wilson layup at the 7:19 mark of the quarter. Shamia Strayhorn would follow with a layup and the Cardinals got to within four points with 6:44 to play. However, Charleston kept their foot on the gas, going on a 7-2 run that brought the score 11-4 Charleston would continue to dominate the rest of the first quarter and it ended 21-13.

Wheeling would start the second quarter with a bang with Gracie Fairman scoring at 9:24 to make it 21-15 and Briaerley Rogers hitting a big three at 8:11 which would make it a 3 point game. Shamia would then make a layup at 7:25 to make it a one-point game, but Charleston would take control of the game as they would go on an 8-5 run to end the second quarter 29-25 which was not a hill that Wheeling couldn't climb. Wheeling would keep the third quarter close as at the 6:25 mark Briarley Rogers would hit a three to make it 39-33, but Charleston would pull ahead and remain on top till the end of the game as they won by a final score of 66-53.

The win streak did come to an end, but Wheeling shouldn't feel bad about it because they have had such a historic start to the season and they can use this loss as a learning experience that will help them grow and get stronger as the season progresses. Briarley and Shamia both had very strong games with Briarley getting 16 points and Shamia with 13 which is something that is very positive because these two players have been great to start the season and they were able to keep that up.

Wheeling Women's Basketball will be heading to Kentucky on Monday where they will be taking on Morehead State University in an exhibition game at 11 AM, so make sure you tune into that through the live stream or buy tickets to show your support.