Wheeling, W. Va. – With a spot in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament locked up, it has been a battle for seeding as the regular season comes down to its final three weeks. On Wednesday, it is a clash of the top two dogs in the conference, as the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (16-6, 11-4) will hit the road to face Fairmont State University with tip-off at 5:30 PM. The Cardinals and Falcons are currently tied atop the conference with identical 11-4 conference records, and the winner will have the inside track on the #1 seed in the upcoming MEC Tournament.
Wheeling Women's basketball has had a strong past two games beating West Virginia Wesleyan 65-42 and D&E 62-55 and these wins were particularly important as the Cardinals make the push for the MEC playoffs. In their most recent effort, the Cardinals put a strong first half together and were able to hold on to pick up the win over the Senators. Wheeling was staked to a 29-23 lead after the first half and added 18 more points to the effort to build a 47-33 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. The Senators put up a strong fight, scoring a game-high 22 points over those final 10 minutes, but the Cardinals added 15 of their own and hung on to pick up the 62-55 victory for their 11th conference win of the season.
Briarley Rogers, Shamia Strayhorn, and Rachel Wilson will be three players that Wheeling will be relying on Wednesday to lead the way. Shamia leads the team averaging 13.9 PPG and 53 assists, with Rogers not being far behind at 11.6 PPG and 26 assists. Rogers led the way last time out with 13 points against Davis & Elkins, while adding a team-high three three-pointers and shooting 60% from beyond the arc. Wilson has been strong defensively with 28 steals and 14 blocks this season and finished right behind Rogers with 12 points against Davis & Elkins. The redshirt sophomore is averaging 10.6 PPG over her last seven contests and looks to continue her hot streak under the net.
Fairmont has a lot of great players, so Wheeling will have to watch out for that, and it all starts with Senior Alyssa DeAngelo. She is averaging 19.6 PPG, has 44 assists, and 30 steals, showing she is good at both ends of the court. Katy Darnell is another dynamic two-way player for Fairmont as she is averaging 14.3 PPG, shooting at 50 percent, and has 59 steals.
With just six more games, five more conference games, remaining on both teams' schedules the Cardinals and Falcons will both look to rack up the wins down the stretch. The two teams are separated by just one win in the overall record, and both have played well both at home and on the road. Fairmont State started the season 9-0 on their home court, and just recently took their first home loss of the season at the hands of the University of Charleston. Meanwhile, the Cardinals enter Wednesday night's matchup sitting at 7-3 on the road and they look to hand the Falcons just their second home loss of the season as they try to get on top of the conference.
The Matchup
This will be the 46th meeting between the two schools with Fairmont having the edge by 10 games, leading the all-time series at 28-18. The last time these two matched up on January 10th, Wheeling was able to edge out the win 72-70, so this game is looking to be another close one. With first place in the conference on the line, the Cardinals are looking to sweep the season series and get one step closer to that #1 seed entering the tournament.
In that first meeting of the year, it took an overtime effort, as the Cardinals outscored the Falcons 7-5 in the extra time to get the win. They were led by Shamia Strayhorn, who finished with 17 points including the game-winning layup and free throw in overtime. Kenzie Dalton (14), Bryana Henderson (13), and Briarley Rogers (10) each hit double digits to round out the effort for the Cardinals.
The Details
Tip-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 5:30 PM inside the Feaster Center on the campus of Fairmont State University. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
