Wheeling, W.Va- In a game where the defensive pressure would be high and every shot would count, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (5-4), (1-2) would make a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, but ultimately, the University of Charleston would protect their lead enough to leave the McDonough Center with a 56-51 victory. Emilia Sierra Lacosta dazzled once again with a floor-high 18 points and an efficient 4-9 afternoon from behind the arc.
Lacosta put the Cardinals on the board first with a three ball about a minute and 15 seconds following the opening tip-off. It took the Golden Eagles close to two minutes to respond with their own three-pointer to tie it up early. Charleston would go up 4-3 after a trip to the line at the six-minute mark. Each team struggled to land shots, which resulted in a scoring drought that would not be broken until UC's Annarino hit a jumper with 3:50 left in the first quarter. Lacosta got things tied up again with another deep ball not too long after. However, back-to-back threes from the Golden Eagles would bring the opening frame to a close as Charleston led 12-9.
UC started scoring 30 seconds into quarter number two, which resulted in a 7-3 run over the next minute and a half. Another drought occurred as both teams had difficulty dropping the ball into the basket, but a Golden Eagle layup with five minutes to go in the quarter ended the streak. Graci Fairman answered the call with a layup of her own 12 seconds later. The teams traded a set of successful free throws to make it 25-16 with three minutes left, but this would be the last points of the quarter for Wheeling as Charleston finished out the half on a 6-0 run to take a 31-16 advantage into the locker room.
Out of the break, Kenzie Dalton connected on a mid-range jumper to strike first. A UC steal turned into two more points for the Golden Eagles, which then resulted in five unanswered with under six minutes to play in the third. Lacosta and Layla Merriweather added two points each, but they still trailed 38-22. Time continued to tick down until Lacosta knocked down another shot from behind the arc and when she took it inside the paint, she cut the Charleston lead to 11 with over a minute left in the quarter. Two good free throws from Elena Marin Dawid shrank the gap to single digits, but Charleston nailed a three as the buzzer blared, indicating the end of the third quarter. The Golden Eagles would be tasked to defend a 41-29 lead over the final 10 minutes of play.
The fourth quarter started off hot with a dish from Dalton to Merriweather from outside the arc just 14 seconds in. It would set the tone for the remainder of the game as Wheeling understood it was crunchtime. The layup from Lacosta just under nine minutes made it 41-34. UC went on to hit two free throws, but Fairman cut the deficit to seven again with a driving layup in the paint. The Golden Eagles were given many chances to add to their lead, but they simply could not get the ball to drop. As the clock worked against the Cardinals, UC had been able to build its lead back to double-digits, but a three-pointer and two successful free throws from Merriweather made it 52-43 with three minutes left. Fairman cashed in from deep to make it a two-possession game, and a steal from Lacosta allowed Dalton to cruise into the paint for a layup. As she went up though, she was fouled, but the ball still found its way through the hoop. Dalton made the plus one shot, and it was now 52-49 with under a minute and a half left to play.
The last 30 seconds of the contest were drawn out for what seemed like an eternity, but that is just how these things go. UC made a free throw to extend their lead to four, and the Cardinals would call for a timeout. Even though Wheeling was unable to make the layup, Fairman drew a foul, and with her two chances at the line, she did not disappoint as she made it 53-51 with 17 seconds remaining. The Cardinals fouled, which resulted in the Golden Eagles making one of their two free throws. Only down by three, the Cardinals missed the deep shot that would have tied up the game late, and another late foul allowed UC to make the last two throws for a final score of 56-51.
Emilia Sierra Lacosta led the floor yet again with 18 points and shot 7-16 from the field and 4-9 from range. Graci Fairman finished with 11 points, making four of her six attempts from the field. Layla Merriweather ended with 10 points and was on target both times from behind the arc. Kenzie Dalton finished with five points but led the team with nine rebounds.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team will return to the McDonough Center on Wednesday, December 17th when they take on Davis & Elkins College at 5:30pm.
