Athens. W. Va. - After finding themselves down 32-20 at halftime on Saturday, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (8-8, 5-4) would have to rally in the second half. They would do just that, outscoring Concord 55-35 over the final 20 minutes and overtime to pick up a 75-67 win on the road. The win got the Cardinals back to .500, sitting at 8-8 overall and kept them in the top half of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) as the team continues down the postseason stretch. 

After shooting just 25% from the floor over the first 20 minutes of play, the Cardinals were looking to turn things around in the second half. Kristel Rattasepp would get the Cardinals going with a layup, and added another a minute and a half later that made it a 34-24 game. Concord would extend their lead to 37-24, before Bryana Henderson got her team back on track with a jumper. She added a three-pointer two possessions later and sent the Cardinals on a 9-0 run that made it a 37-33 game. Emilia Sierra Lacosta added a layup after Concord broke the run and by the media timeout, it was a 38-35 Concord lead. The Cardinals would tie the game with 3:55 to go in the quarter, and would take their first lead on a pair of Henderson free throws. The lead would change hands three times during that final stretch, but a Henderson three-pointer sent the Cardinals into the fourth quarter with a 49-46 lead. 

It was Wheeling's biggest lead of the game so far and, after putting up a game-high 29 points in the third quarter, the Cardinals looked to continue riding that momentum.  However, Concord would continue to hang around, leading to a back and forth battle throughout the fourth quarter. The quarter started with an 11-2 Mountain Lion run that put Wheeling in a 57-53 hole with six minutes to play. The Cardinals would tie the game two minutes later at 59-59, before both defenses stood tall. The two teams scored a combined eight points over the final four and a half minutes and, with 1:35 to play, the Cardinals would take the lead on a Rachel Wilson layup that made it 63-61 Cardinals. It would come down to the final possession, and Concord would hit a layup with 11 seconds to go from Skylar Davidson that sent the game into overtime at 63-63. 

It would be the Cardinal's first overtime game of the season, and it would be Dalton that got things started with a jumper, Concord responded on the next possession to keep it tied at 65-65. Layla Merriweather would add a jumper and a three-pointer that got the Cardinals out to a 70-65 lead, and a pair of free throws from Concord's Abbie Smith briefly broke the run. Those would end up being the final two Concord points of the night and Henderson and Rattasepp would end the night from the free throw line. The duo would combine to go 5-6 from the charity stripe and locked down the 75-67 win for the Cardinals. After shooting just 25% in the first half, the Cardinals would overcome their early struggles to shoot 50% (20-40) from the floor over the final 25 minutes to secure the win. 

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Bryana Henderson who set a new season-high with 19 points in the effort. Alot of Henderson's success came from three-point range and the free throw line, going 2-4 (50%) from beyond the arc and 7-8 (87.5%) from the free throw line. She was one of four Cardinals to hit double figures, with Kenzie Dalton (12), Kristel Rattasepp (12), and Layla Merriweather (12) all hitting double digits. Dalton would pick up her first double-double of the season, while Merriweather once again set a new career-high with the 12 point effort. Dalton also led the team with four assists on the day, while Rachel Wilson added 12 rebounds to round out the Cardinal leaders. 

In the game's first half, it was defense that ruled the first quarter, as the teams sat tied 6-6 with 3:48 to go in the first quarter. Three different Cardinals accounted for the six points, before a 9-0 Concord run extended the lead to 15-6. Graci Fairman would hit a three-pointer before the first quarter buzzer, and the Cardinals trailed 15-9 after one quarter. Concord would continue their success into the second quarter, scoring the first two points, but the Cardinals would respond with 11 points of their own. Wheeling would get to within two points of Concord with a three-pointer from Emilia Sierra Lacosta that made t 19-17, but a 13-3 run over the final seven and a half minutes made it 32-20 in favor of Concord heading into halftime. The Cardinals were able to battle back in the second half leading to the win. 

The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, January 22nd, when they hit the road to face Salem at 5:30 PM.