Wheeling, W. Va. - Over the last week, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (14-6, 9-4) faced one of their toughest stretches of the season as they battled two of the top teams in the conference. On Wednesday, they look for a bounce back effort in their home gym as they host West Virginia Wesleyan with tip-off at 5:30 PM. A win would guarantee the Cardinals a spot in the 2024 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Women's Basketball tournament, joining Fairmont State as the first two teams to make the tournament field. 

Last time out, the Cardinals were on their home floor as they hosted West Virginia State in their second meeting this season. After Wheeling got out in front in the early portions of play, the West Virginia State offense responded and had a 17-10 lead after the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets would go on to outscore the Cardinals in both the second and third quarter and entering the final 10 minutes of play, it was a 51-28 Yellow Jacket advantage. However, the Cardinals would put together their best effort of the game over those final 10 minutes, shooting 57.89% from the floor and putting up a game-high 27 points. However, the effort wasn't enough as they would fall by the final score of 73-65 and dropped to 9-4 in conference play. 

Leading the Cardinals in the effort was senior Jacqui Hinesmon, who has stepped up to lead the team with 14 points on the night. Since the Cardinals lost their starting point guard to injury, Hinesmon has been the vocal leader not only on the bench but on the court as well. She set a season-high with 22 points against West Liberty that sparked this recent stretch of success over the past three games. She has averaged 14.3 PPPG over her last three while shooting 46.9% from the floor during those games. With the Cardinals looking to generate more offense down the stretch, Hinesmon will play an important role in that as she looks for continued success under the net. 

Right behind her was Shamia Strayhorn, who finished second on the team with six rebounds and led the way with five assists in the effort. Since the loss of Dalton, Strayhorn has led the Cardinal passing game with 10 assists over her last three games for an average of 3.3 assists per game. She has also seen her fair share of success in the rebounding game, totaling 25 rebounds over her last five games as she continues to help on both sides of the ball. Freshman Kadie Colebank was the Cardinal's defense on the night with seven rebounds in 20 minutes played. Colebank played tough in the paint, adding eight points to her effort as she continues to grow as a forward. 

After the tough week, the Cardinals dropped one game behind Fairmont State for the top spot in the conference at 9-4 and sit in a tie with Frostburg State for second in the conference. After Davis & Elkins lost to Notre Dame College on Saturday, the Cardinal's magic number has dropped to one. With either a win over West Virginia Wesleyan or a Davis & Elkins loss to West Liberty, the Cardinals will officially punch their ticket to the MEC Tournament. They are looking to once again grab a first round bye in the tournament and earn the highest seed possible as they battle for an MEC Championship. 

The Matchup 

The Cardinals and Bobcats will be meeting for the 37th time in program history on Wednesday night and the second time during the 2023-2024 season. Wheeling leads the all-time series with a record of 21-15 in the first 36 meetings, including a 9-5 record on their home floor. It has been a historically low scoring series all-time, with the Cardinals averaging just 65.72 points per game, and that continued in the first meeting this season. 

The Cardinals traveled to Buckhannon, West Virginia back on December 2nd and walked away with a 58-51 victory over the Bobcats. In that game, the Cardinals were led by Shamia Strayhorn, who finished with 15 points, three rebounds, and three assists in the victory. Briarley Rogers added 11 points and Rachel Wilson led the way with 10 rebounds to round out the day. 

The Details 

Tip-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 5:30 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.