Cedarville, OH- Every game counts. It does not matter if the game is in conference or not. This is the attitude that the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (6-5), (2-2) brought with them onto the court when they matched up against the non-conference Lady Jackets. The Cardinals left it all out on the floor, but unfortunately, it was not enough as Wheeling came out on the losing end of a triple-overtime thriller, 87-82. Layla Merriweather performed exceptionally well, setting a new career-high of 28 points. Kenzie Dalton recorded her second double-double game in a row while Emma Reynolds tied her career high of 14 points.  

Emilia Sierra Lacosta started the scoring for the Cardinals 46 seconds after the opening tip-off with a nice driving layup. A free throw from the Lady Jackets got them on the board, but Lacosta showed off her range by connecting on a long ball for an early 5-1 lead. Cedarville responded in a timely manner with four points from two layups to tie things up. Following the media timeout, the Jackets sank two free throws for an 8-7 lead. For the next minute and some change, they held that lead until Elena Marwin Dawid cashed in on the pass from Kenzie Dalton to retake the one-point advantage with 2:55 remaining in the first. Cedarville and Wheeling's Layla Merriweather traded three-pointers, but a free throw and a layup by the Lady Jackets as the buzzer sounded saw Cedarville take a 14-12 lead into the second quarter.  

Merriweather and the Cardinals started the second period of play hot as the sophomore sank another deep ball and a layup for a 17-14 lead. A minute later, Dalton extended the Cardinal lead with a shot from downtown. Wheeling saw themselves on an 8-0 run with 7:36 left in the first, until the Lady Jackets broke their scoreless drought with a jumper inside the arc. Graci Fairman joined in on the action with a layup from the paint to kick off what would turn into 6-2 run for the Cards. Cedarville played catch up with a three-pointer of their own and after the last media timeout of the half, they would tie it back up at 26. Cedarville ended up closing out the final three minutes of the half on an 8-3 run to bring a 34-29 lead into the locker room. 

The Lady Jackets picked up where they left off in the second quarter by scoring the first four points of the third, extending their lead, 40-29. Merriweather received a pass from Dalton to cut into the lead by three, and nearly three minutes later of defensive stops for both sides, Emma Reynolds came up big with her first three points of the night and Merriweather's deep ball forced Cedarville to call a 30 second timeout still leading 40-38 with 6:09 left in the third. Following the break, the Lady Jackets made good on a shot from behind the arc, but unfortunately for them, the Cardinals responded back with six straight points to regain a 44-43 lead with under two and a half minutes remaining in the third. Cedarville and Wheeling took turns with the lead, but a layup from Reynolds closed play in the third quarter to put Wheeling ahead 48-45 with 10 minutes left in the contest. 

Reynolds and Lacosta extended the gap to nine on layups across the opening three minutes of the fourth. Two made free throws and a layup from Cedarville cut into the lead, but Merriweather's two points kept Wheeling out in front. The Lady Jackets knew it would be tough, but they continued to stay close to their opponent with a quick jumper to make it 56-51 with under five minutes remaining in the fourth. Dalton answered with a shot from inside the arc to make it 58-51. Cedarville added a tally with a free throw, and then it remained scoreless for a whole minute when they would add another free throw to their score. Dalton once again answered the call with a layup, but the Lady Jackets would make two points and then sink a three-pointer with just 35 seconds remaining to go down by two 60-58. Lacosta made her shot at the line to extend the gap to three. However, the Lady Jackets responded with three points of their own, which meant there would be extra basketball.  

The Cardinals started the overtime period with numerous chances to strike first, but all failed to hit the target. The missed shots allowed the Lady Jackets to open the scoring up with a layup in the paint for a 63-61 lead with 3:51 remaining. Fairman's trip to the charity stripe tied it up, but an extra point gave Cedarville the advantage of one. Dalton stormed down the court to lay a shot off the back board to regain the lead. Cedarville held on with a possession filled with missed shots and offensive rebounds, but finally, a tip-in made it 66-65. Merriweather drilled a three-pointer with 1:37 remaining in overtime, but 20 seconds later, it was tied again at 68. Fairman and Cedarville each hit two free throws to send this game to a second overtime, tied at 70 a side. 

The second overtime started a little slower than previous quarters. Cedarville still got the opening bucket, but not until there was 3:08 left on the clock. The Lady Jackets nailed a three-pointer to go up by five, but Reynolds knocked down a three of her own to cut the deficit to two. Dalton tied it at 75 with under a minute remaining in overtime number two. With the Lady Jackets missing a jumper with four seconds remaining, it proved that 70 minutes was not enough and that a third overtime would be necessary to decide the winner.  

Dalton would draw a foul and hit her two shots at the line to begin overtime number three. Cedarville and Merriweather traded three-pointers, but a layup in the paint from the Lady Jackets tied it up at 80 with 3:30 remaining. The dagger came from a deep shot by Regan Hubert with 2:38 remaining to put her squad up by three. Cedarville would go on to add four more points as Fairman's two made free throws signaled the Cardinal's 87-82 loss. 

In the thriller that ultimately ended in a heartbreaking loss, Layla Merriweather shattered her previous career-high of 14 points that was set back on December 3rd with a 28-point performance against Cedarville. She finished making 11 of 24 attempts from the field and six of 11 from downtown while tallying eight rebounds. Kenzie Dalton ended with 17 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds and four steals to make this her second consecutive double-double. Emma Reynolds finished with 14 points, which tied her career-high, and also had eight rebounds. Emilia Sierra Lacosta ended her night with 12 points. Graci Fairman finished with nine points and made seven of her nine free throw attempts. 

The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team will use the holiday break to rest, recover, and regroup. They will return to action in the new year when they take on West Virginia Wesleyan in Buckhannon, WV on January 3rd at 2pm.