Wheeling, W. Va. – The final day of the Wheeling University Homecoming & Family weekend kicked off Sunday morning at Bishop Schmitt Field. The Wheeling University Women's Rugby team (5-0) hosted Ohio University in their first ever Homecoming match. It was a day for the offense as the Cardinals put up 74 points and earned their second shutout of the season over the Bobcats.

Both defenses held strong for the first seven minutes of the game before the Cardinal offense broke through. It came in the seventh minute of the game as Alexis Dallas powered her way into the try zone to put Wheeling up 5-0. The conversion kick would fail, but the Cardinal offense was off and running. They would find the try line again 15 minutes later as Liz Sinatra broke off the first big run of the night. She broke several tackles before turning on the afterburners to put Wheeling ahead 10-0. Just six minutes later, Mariah Crews found the try line for the third try of the day and Marissa Hudson converted her first conversion kick of the day to make it a 17-0 Cardinal advantage. Wheeling would get on the board one more time before the half as Ema Tai plunged across the try line and the Cardinals went into the half with a 24-0 lead.

After giving their substitutes a chance to start the game, Head Coach Ken Pape went to his normal starting 15 in the second half and they continued to keep things going. It took just 30 seconds into the new half before the Cardinals got on the board, as Tamzin Boyce used her speed to get around the Bobcat defense and extend Wheeling's lead to 31-0. After Marissa Hudson took all of the conversion kicks in the first half, Bella Gullatta would come in in the second half and wrapped up the day. Three minutes later, the Cardinals were back on the board, using Gullatta's foot to kick a penalty kick through that made the score 34-0 in favor of Wheeling. Gullatta was efficient in the second half, making six of her seven conversion kicks as she accounted for 12 points on the night.

Wheeling's second biggest run came from Tocarra Nelson, who took the ball coast to coast as she made her way across the try line, and Gullatta's conversion made it 41-0 Wheeling. Tamzin Boyce would score her second try of the day in the 59th minute and Joelle Taylor would start a big second half with her first of two tries in the 63rd minute to make it 53-0 in favor of the Cardinals. Ohio University was trying desperately to break through the Cardinal's defense, but Wheeling had an answer the entire night, picking up their second shutout of the season. Nadia Richards and Marlee Garrison would each get into the try zone. The Cardinals final try of the day came in the final minutes as the Cardinals were near the try line and looking to get one more in. They would hand the ball to the Monster Taylor and she plowed her way in for the final score as Wheeling brought the game to its final score of 74-0.

Bella Gullatta would lead the team in points for the fifth game in a row, finishing with 12 points, going 6+7 on conversion kicks. Joelle Taylor has her first career two try game, accounting for a career-best 10 points, while Tamzin Boyce equaled her effort with 10 points of her own. Ema Tai, Marlee Garrison, and Mariah Crews would each cross the try line on the day to round out the Cardinal offense.

The Wheeling University Women's Rugby team returns to action on Saturday, October 5th when they travel to PITT with kick-off at 1 PM.