Wheeling, W. Va. - In front of several alumni from the program's history, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (7-7, 4-3) would take the home court for the first time in 2025. The Cardinals battled Frostburg State in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play, and it was a career day on the court that would lead them to a 67-52 victory. Forward Rachel Wilson accounted for nearly a third of her team's offense on the day as she led the Cardinals to victory.
Wilson put up a new career high in the effort, scoring 22 points and adding 16 rebounds to complete the double-double. It was her second double-double in her last three games, and she was the team's most efficient shooter on the day, making 61.5% of her shots on the day. Both the 22 points and 16 rebounds were season-high efforts for the redshirt sophomore, as she rounded out a strong day. She was one of two Cardinals to hit double figures, with Emilia Sierra Lacosta adding 12 points in the game. Kenzie Dalton rounded out the scoring, finishing with nine points, while adding nine rebounds and a team-high eight assists. As a team, the Cardinals shot 39.4% from the floor, including a 43.75% mark from the floor in the final quarter of play.
Wilson's big day started with a pair of free throws and the Cardinals and Bobcats would trade the first four points of the game. Emilia Sierra Lacosta added a layup and the Cardinals went on a 5-0 run that put them out to a 7-2 lead. Frostburg State continued to battle back, getting as close as 13-5, before Kristel Rattasepp had the Cardinals off and running again. Rattasepp hit a layup that would put the Cardinals on a 7-0 run that pushed the Cardinal lead to 18-5 with 3:16 to play. The Wheeling defense would buckle down over the final five minutes of the quarter, and allowed just one Bobcat point during the run. Graci Fairman would add a three-pointer and Sierra Lacosta added a layup so the Cardinals held a 23-6 lead after one.
The second quarter began with another Cardinal three, courtesy of Hillari Baker and the Cardinal's would cap-off what was an 8-0 run. Taylor Smith stopped the run with a layup, but the Cardinals would get right back at it with a pair of layups from Wilson that made it 30-8. Of her 22 points, Wilson would score 10 points during the second quarter as she helped the Cardinals continue to extend that lead to 34-13. Baker added another three-pointer and the Bobcats would begin to slowly battle back. They hit a pair of free throws, a three-pointer, and a jumper that got them to the 20-point mark. Sierra Lacosta would hit the final jumper of the half and by the time the teams broke for the locker room, the Cardinals were staked to a 39-20 lead.
As the teams came out for the second half, it was defense that ruled the way with just two points scored over the first four minutes of play. Wilson would be the one to put those two points on the board and the Cardinals led 41-20 as the clock ticked past the six minute mark. Emilee Weakley would get the Bobcats back on the board after the 5:52 mark and as the clock ticked past the media timeout, the Cardinals were staked to a 43-22 lead. With 1:55 to play, the Cardinals got the ball rolling with a three-pointer from Sierra Lacosta and a pair of free throws from Wilson that would get the Cardinals over the 50-point mark, giving them a 51-32 lead after three quarters of play. With the lead already well in hand, the Cardinals would put together their best shooting quarter of the game, putting up a 43.75% mark from the floor over the final 10 minutes.
The final 10 minutes of the game saw the Cardinals continue to put the pressure on with several of their freshman making contributions down the stretch. Sierra Lacosta got the Cardinals to the 60-point mark with a three-pointer with 5:23 to go, and Baker added her third three-pointer of the day a few possessions later. Baker set a new career-high in minutes played, while putting up a career-best nine points in the effort. She also added the first two steals of her career, making herself a big part of the Cardinal's success. The day would end with a jumper from Frostburg State's Laekyn Flinn, that brought the gme to its final score of 67-52.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, January 15th, when they host Glenville State with tip-off at 5:30 PM.
