Pittsburgh, PA. – After playing a daunting non-conference schedule that saw them play on the road for four of their first five games, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (3-3, 1-0) was on the road once again to open Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. They would open the slate with a matchup against the newest conference foe, picking up a 72-63 win over the Pioneers. It was a fast start that got the Cardinals going and helped them hold on after a late push from the Pioneers.
Point Park would get the first points of the night 30 seconds into the game, but freshman Kristel Rattasepp was soon to respond. Rattasepp would make a pair of three-pointers over the first three minutes of play and the Cardinals were out to a 6-2 advantage. The Pioneers would tie things up at 6-6 and the score remained knotted up as the first media timeout ticked by. The lead would change hands three times over the next three minutes and a Bryana Henderson layup would put Wheeling up 14-13. This would spark an 8-0 Cardinal run, led by four points from Henderson, and the Cardinals held a 20-13 lead. Point Park would answer with four straight points of their own, and by quarter's end, the Cardinal lead was cut to 23-18.
Wheeling quickly broke the run to start the second quarter, and would head off on one of their own. Rattasepp would hit a layup 30 seconds into the new quarter and the Cardinals scored six straight points to go ahead 29-18. Both defenses reigned supreme throughout the quarter, with only seven points scored after the run was stopped and by the final first half media timeout, the Cardinals maintained a 31-23 advantage. It was an efficient quarter for the Cardinals, with the team shooting a game-high 54.5% from the floor, with all of their shots being taken inside the arc. Meanwhile, the Cardinal defense held Point Park to a 17.65% mark from the floor as they maintained their lead. Emilia Sierra Lacosta would score the final Cardinal points of the half, and the team went into the locker room leading 37-28.
That lead quickly diminished as the team came out of the locker room, with a pair of Pioneer three-pointers making it a 37-34 game. Kenzie Dalton would take the ball into her own hands and drove for a layup to break the run and start Wheeling on a run of their own. The Cardinals would score seven straight points, building their lead back to 10 with 7:10 to go in the quarter. It would be a quarter of runs, as Point Park came right back and got to within one point of the Cardinals as a layup from Ari Bleda with 2:13 to go made it a 46-45 game. Wheeling would hold off the Pioneers, despite allowing 21 points in the quarter, as a Mia Donald layup with 57 seconds to go was enough to send Wheeling into the final 10 minutes with a 52-49 advantage.
A pair of Point Park free throws to start the new half got the Pioneers within one point of Wheeling, but Sierra Lacosta would hit a jumper to keep the advantage. Point Park would get to within one point of the Cardinals three different times over the first three minutes of the quarter, eventually overtaking them at the 6:14 mark on a jumper from Camille Fultz. The biggest run of the game would follow as Sierra Lacosta once again hit a big shot to give Wheeling back the lead and kick-off a short 7-0 run. That opened up the score to 65-59 in favor of the Cardinals, but once again with 2:53 to go the Pioneers had gotten back to within two points. It would be the Cardinal's work at the free throw line that sealed the deal as Henderson and Dalton each went 2-2 and Kaylee Marvin added a free throw and a jumper that would bring the game to its final score of 72-63.
For the second time in the last three games, Bryana Henderson would be the Cardinal's leading scorer with 15 points on the day. She went 5-12 from the floor and 4-4 from the free throw line, falling just one point shy of her 16-point effort that she put up against Thomas More and it was the third straight game where Henderson reached double digits. The Cardinals had two other players finishing in double figures, with Kristel Rattasepp (14) and Kenzie Dalton (13) each hitting the mark. Dalton was the team's assist leader, finishing with seven assists, while also being their most efficient shooter, going 4-5 from the floor. Kaylee Marvin rounded out the day with another big day under the net, finishing with 13 rebounds.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday, November 30th, when they host Ursuline College with tip-off at 2 PM.
