Wheeling, W. Va. – Over the off-season, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team has taken on a new look both on the court and on the bench. Ella Skeens enters her first season as Head Coach of the program, after serving as an assistant over the last two seasons, and she has brought in a total of eight new players (six freshmen and two transfers) to join the program. Despite all the change, the mindset remains the same, get back to and compete in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament.

The 2024-2025 season was a big stepping stone for the program, seeing them finish 17-12 overall and 13-7 in MEC play. It would start with a tough non-conference road for the team that saw them go 2-3 to start the year, but it helped prepare them for the conference schedule that was ahead. The Cardinals would rack up wins in each of their first two conference games and would go 3-2 through their first half conference schedule. As they headed into the second half of the season, the Cardinals were sitting at 4-4 until a 75-67 win over Concord opened up the flood gates. The Cardinals would go on to win five of their next six games and secured their spot in the MEC Tournament. They would enter the tournament as the #3 seed and in the field, their highest finish since the spring 2021 season, and would host #6 Charleston in the first round of tournament play. It was a close battle, but the Cardinal's run would come to an end as they fell 58-49 to end the postseason stretch.

The Cardinals have 10 returners on this year's teams with defending MEC Defensive Player of the Year Kenzie Dalton leading the way. Dalton was the Cardinal leader on the defensive side of the ball, pacing the team with 90 steals while also leading the way with 124 assists. She would also be the captain of a Cardinal defense that held opponents to a MEC best 61.7 PPG. From the point guard position, Dalton was able to average 8.9 PPG while shooting an impressive 47.3% from the floor. Her biggest stretch of games came in mid February, where she was the team's leading scorer in back-to-back game. It would start on a February 19^th match-up with Concord where Dalton set her new career-high with 21 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists. She followed that up with another big game against Glenville State, where she duplicated her 21 point effort, while finishing with eight rebound and four assists. Dalton looks to continue being a leader for the team this season as they try to push back towards the top of the MEC.

Joining her on the offensive side will be sophomore Emilia Sierra Lacosta, who had a breakout season for the Cardinals in her freshman year. She is the leading scorer among the returners from last season, scoring 272 points and averaging 9.4 PPG in 29 games played during the season. She would have a lot of her success from three-point range, shooting 31.7% to sit second on the team, while adding a 35.8% mark from the floor. She will take on a heightened role for the Cardinals this season and looks to continue her growth on the court. On the defensive side, Graci Fairman was a valuable piece of the bench and will look to add her leadership to this young team. She would finish the 2024-2025 season with 15 steals and 36 rebounds as she usually guarded the other team's top shooter. Fairman joins Dalton as the two players who have been on the court for the Cardinals since their freshman seasons, and they look to bring that experience to lead the team throughout the 2025-2026 season.

The Cardinals will once again face a challenging non-conference schedule, with a heavy dose of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opponents. However, they will get the luxury of playing their first six games at home, including their MEC opener against Point Park on December 3^rd. They will play three conference opponents before the break, and close out the first half with a match-up against Cedarville on December 20^th. It leads them into the second half stretch, where the team will celebrate 50 years of Wheeling Women's Basketball. They are planning to celebrate the reunion of the first-ever team in Wheeling Women's Basketball history on January 31^st and will play four games at home throughout the month. They wrap up the year playing nearly every Saturday at home in the month of February to round out the season.

The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team kicks off the 2025-2026 season on Friday, November 14^th, when they battle CAL-U with tip-off at 2 PM.