Wheeling, W. Va. – Whenever tournament time comes around, college basketball is in for some exciting finishes. The same was true on Thursday night as the #5 seeded Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (18-11, 12-8) met up with #4 seeded Charleston inside the WesBanco Arena. The game would come down to the final seconds of play, but the Cardinals would fall on the losing side of the affair, dropping the game 62-60 to end their Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament run.

The Cardinals would get things started with a bang as they won the opening tip-off and got things started with a bang as Shamia Strayhorn hit from three. The three-pointer would prove big for the team early as two of their first three buckets came from three-point range and the Cardinals had an 8-2 lead over the  first three minutes of the game. Charleston would hang around, going on a 6-2 run over the next three minutes as the back and forth began and by the first media timeout, Wheeling's lead would sit at 10-8. Both defenses played strong in the ladder half of the period, as their would be just eight more points in the quarter. Graci Fairman would put in the final Wheeling bucket of the quarter, and after one Charleston was staked to a 14-12 lead, finishing the quarter on a 6-2 run.

A free throw from Jacqui Hinesmon would start the new quarter, but the Golden Eagle lead extended to 17-13 over the first two minutes of the quarter. Wheeling needed a spark and they got a big one from freshman Kadie Colebank, who led the team on an 7-4 run that pushed them through the media timeout. She started the run with a three-pointer and added another to tie things at 19-19 with 6:32 to go before the half. A layup from the freshman ended the run and the Cardinals had tied things up at 21-21 heading into the second quarter media timeout. It would be a night of punches and counter punches as Charleston went up 27-23 with 3:08 to play in the half, before Wheeling answered back with a pair of layups from Rachel Wilson and Colebank to tie things at 27-27. The final points of the half came from Charleston's Nia Vanzat and the Golden Eagles would hold a 29-27 lead entering the half.

Coming out of the locker room, the two teams would trade the first four points, with Wilson starting the scoring for Wheeling. Charleston would maintain their advantage, leading 35-31 four minutes into the quarter before Wheeling got the three ball working again. Briarley Rogers was up, and she nailed a three-pointer right before the media timeout to make it a 35-34 game. Wheeling took the lead a minute later as Graci Fairman added a big three-pointer of her own and heading into the media timeout it was a 39-37 Wheeling advantage. Wheeling battled throughout the rest of the quarter, holding off two Charleston pushes and the game was tied 43-43 with 2:05 left in the quarter. Their would be one more shot in the quarter, a three-pointer from Charleston, and the teams went into the final 10 minutes of play with the Golden Eagles on top 46-43.

After adding the first four points of the next quarter the Golden Eagles were staked to the biggest lead by either team on the night, sitting ahead 50-43 with 8:45 to play. The Cardinals would slowly chip away as two more three-pointers from Shamia Strayhorn and Kenzie Dalton had them back within striking distance at 54-50 with 6:41 to play. Rogers hit her third three-pointer of the day and a layup from Strayhorn would put up yet another lead change as the Cardinals led 55-54 heading into the media timeout. The lead would switch hands twice more down the run, with Dalton hitting a layup to give Wheeling a 57-56 lead with 2:05 to play. Charleston would score eight of the next 11 points and with two seconds to play, Charleston held a 62-59 lead. Jacqui Hinesmon would come to the free throw line and went 1-2 to round out the day as Wheeling would fall 62-60.

Two Cardinals would finish in double figures on the night, with Rachel Wilson leading the way with 11 points. She finished a team best 5-7 (71.4%) from the floor and provided some big shots throughout the night and also led the defensive effort with seven rebounds. Shamia Strayhorn would be the other Cardinal to finish in double figures, putting up 10 points on the night and going 4-10 from the floor. Every Cardinal who played scored at least three points in the game, and the team had the three-ball working throughout the night, hitting nine threes. Briarley Rogers led the group, going 3-6 from the long range on the night. The Cardinal's 2024 MEC Tournament run comes to an end, and Head Coach Anna Kowalska talked about the battle and the Cardinal's young team coming back next year.

"It's a tournament game so you know it's going to be close especially a 4 and 5 seed," said Kowalska. "We're still young and the whole group is coming back next year so we are excited for next season."

The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team now heads into the off-season as they look to come back stronger in 2024-25.