Wheeling, W. Va. – After dropping their season opener on Friday, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (1-1, 0-0) was back inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Saturday. They would bounce back in a big way, earning their head coach Ella Skeens her first win as a Head Coach in a 70-56 win over Edinboro. It completed the split of the opening weekend as Wheeling starts the 2025-2026 season at 1-1 after their opening weekend.
After Edinboro scored the opening bucket of the night, Emma Reynolds would get the Cardinals on the board with a three. The opening five minutes of play would see the two teams go shot for shot with each other, before Elena Marin Dawid hit a bucket to tie the game at 9-9. It would send the Cardinals on a 6-0 run that gave the Cardinals the biggest advantage of the night to that point at 13-9. Edinboro would break the run with a layup from Ava Haddad, but Wheeling answered right back as Kenzie Dalton quickly responded with a layup on the other end that made it 15-11. Both defenses would hold strong over the final two minutes of the quarter, with teams combining for just three points during that stretch. Edinboro would hit the final shot of the quarter when Maura Suman hit a three but the Cardinals would hold the lead at 15-14 heading into the second quarter.
They translated that into an 8-0 run as the new quarter began and flipped, the scoreboard. Wheeling found themselves down. 19-15 before their defense stiffened the rest of the half. After allowing Edinboro's 19th Point at the 7:18 mark of the quarter, Wheeling would not allow another score for the rest of the half. They held the Fighting Scots to a 20% mark From the floor which included a 0-5 mark from three-point range. While the defense held Edinboro down, the offense took advantage with Emilia Sierra Lacosta getting a three to get things started. It would translate into a 15-0 run for the Cardinals that lasted the final 7 minutes of the quarter. In total, five different Cardinals would score during the run led by Dalton, who put up four of the 15 points. It would be Graci Fairman who brought the half to a close with a layup, And the Cardinals headed into the locker room with a 30- 19 advantage.
While, the defense took the lead in the second quarter, it was the offense that took the reins in the third. Wheeling extended their run to 17-0 when Dalton hit a jumper out of the half, before the Fighting Scots got back in the board. Wheeling would score 23 points in the third quarter, with Dalton being responsible for 11 of those points. Wheeling would also use the three ball throughout the quarter, with Sierra Lacosta getting that success started at the 7:48 mark. She will get back-to-back threes that extended the Cardinal lead to 38-25. Dalton would account for the next four Cardinal points before Dawid added her Second, three of the day to push the advantage to 45-33. The Cardinals would hit two more three-pointers over the final 3 minutes of play, with Layla Merriweather and Dawid each hitting from beyond the arc, and Wheeling held a 53-33 Lead heading to the final 10 minutes of play. The three ball would play a key role in helping the Cardinals extend the lead as they went 4-8 from beyond The Arc in that third quarter.
The fourth quarter would be the only one in which Edinboro outscored Wheeling, answering with 23 points over the final 10 minutes. However, Wheeling had built a strong enough lead that they were able to withstand the last second comeback attempt. The Fighting Scots would hit the first two buckets of the quarter, but Wheeling would go 4-4 from the free-throw line on their first two trips. Dalton would add A layup right before the media time out and Wheeling would lead 59-45 With 5 minutes to play. Edinboro would cut the lead to 10 with 3:22 to play, before a 6-0 Run by the Cardinals. Put the game on ice. Dalton would hit on a three-point play, And a three from Merriweather with 2:25 to go would put the game Out of reach. Skeens got to pull from some of her depth pieces over the final 2 minutes as they secured the 70-56 victory. For Skeens, It was her first win as a Collegiate head coach and helped the Cardinals finish a 1-1 weekend on their home floor.
Leading the way for Wheeling for the second straight game was Kenzie Dalton, who set a new career high with 28 points in the effort. She would end up picking up her first double double of the season, leading the team with both 10 points and seven rebounds, as she has gotten off to a fast start in 2025-2026. The other Cardinal to hit double figures on the day was Emilia Sierra Lacosta, who finished with 13 points while going a team best 3-8 From Three-Point range. Emma Reynolds continued her success in the forward position, finishing with eight points and six rebounds, while Elena Marin Dawid rounded out the night with seven points. Wheeling was efficient from the floor, shooting 45.3% which included a 36.8% mark from Three-Point range.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball Team returns to action on Wednesday, November 19th, when they take on Pitt-Johnstown with tip off at 5:30 PM.
