Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (12-9, 10-5) are in the middle of one of the toughest stretches of the season to start the month of February. That tough stretch continues Saturday, when the Cardinals get set to host regionally Ranked West Virginia State at 2 PM. State is the second straight regionally Ranked opponents that the Cardinals have faced, and they are in the middle of a stretch where they play ranked opponents in three of their four games.
The first game in that stretch saw the Cardinals travel to Charleston, West Virginia where they battled a Golden Eagles team that was undefeated at home. Both teams battled early on, with neither team gaining more than a four-point advantage over the first 10 minutes of play. However, by halftime, the Charleston offense had kicked in and went into the locker room with a 49-40 advantage. The Cardinals came charging out of the gates in the second half, getting to within two points of the Golden Eagles in the first five minutes of the third quarter. However, there just wasn't enough left in the tank as the Cardinals fell 86-72 to drop to 10-5 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play.
It was another big game for senior Lauren Calhoun as she picked up her conference best 14th double-double of the season and officially moved into the top 20 all-time scoring list. She finished the night with 20 points and 11 rebounds as she led both sides of the ball. Calhoun continues to be the premiere rebounder in the conference, leading the way with 11.7 rebounds per game this season. Calhoun is going to be a driving force for this Cardinals team on both sides of the ball down the stretch and will look to lead her team back to the MEC Quarterfinals and beyond in the 2023 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament.
As a team, the Cardinals had one of their best games of the season from the free throw line, shooting 71.9% on the day (23-32). Leading the way was sophomore Shanley Woods, who got back into double figures finishing with 12 points on the night. She shot 5-6 from the free throw line, with almost half of her points coming from the charity stripe. Calhoun added an 8-10 effort while Shamia Strayhorn and Kenzie Dalton each added four free throws of their own. It was the seventh time this season that the Cardinals had a free throw percentage of 70% or higher as a team and they will need to keep that up as they head into tournament play.
Despite the loss on Wednesday, the Cardinals were still able to clinch their fourth straight trip to the 2023 MEC Basketball Tournament because of losses by both Frostburg State and Alderson Broaddus. With seven games to go, the Cardinals are now playing for seeding and will have a chance to improve their standing in this year's tournament. Of their seven remaining games, four come against teams that are either ahead or tied with the Cardinals for the top six spots in the conference standings. Three of those opponents come in the next four games as the Cardinals look to play their best basketball in February and take advantage of their schedule.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets are meeting for the 31st time in program history as they wrap up the 2022-23 regular season series. Wheeling holds a slight advantage in the all-time series, with a record of 16-15, and when they play in Wheeling the Cardinals have an even better 9-5 mark against the Yellow Jackets. Wheeling has won five of the last seven meetings between the two teams with their two losses coming last season.
In their first meeting of the 2022-23 season, Wheeling went on the road and took down West Virginia State 91-77. Kimora Pooler was the Cardinal's leader of the night, picking up a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way. Both Lauren Calhoun and Shanley Woods followed behind her with 15 points each to round out the Cardinal's offensive effort.
The Details
Tip-off for Saturday afternoon's game is scheduled for 2 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
