Wheeling, W. Va. – Despite a loss on Wednesday night, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (13-10, 9-6) got another game closer to the coveted Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament. On Saturday, they take a trip to Frostburg State with a chance to officially claim their spot in this year's tournament. If the Cardinals defeat Frostburg State, and Davis & Elkins falls to Concord, the Cardinals will officially cement their spot in this year's tournament.
The Cardinals are coming off a battle with the top team in the MEC in Fairmont State on Wednesday night. It was a slow start for the Cardinals, who scored just two points over the first six minutes while shooting 14% from the floor. They fell behind 18-2 early and were playing comeback the rest of the night. As the game went on, Wheeling began to find their shot, scoring more points in each quarter, and cut the Fairmont State lead to 27-22 heading into the locker room. The Cardinals continued their comeback push into the second half, getting as close as 32-27 with 7:19 to go in the third quarter. Wheeling would trail 54-44 heading into the fourth quarter and, despite scoring a game-high 20 points in the final 10 minutes, the comeback was too little too late as they fell to the Falcons 74-60.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was junior Kenzie Dalton, who led the Cardinals in nearly every aspect of the game. She finished with a season-high 20 points to lead the offense, while adding a team-high seven assists and four steals on the day. Throughout the season, Dalton has been a leader on the court for the Cardinals, flirting with a triple-double on at least two different occasions. It was her first double digit effort since January 25th when she put up 14 points against West Liberty. Along with her offensive output, Dalton also continued to be a leader on the defensive side of the ball for the Cardinals. She finished with multiple steals for the third time in the past four games, and reached the four steal mark on two of those four occasions.
Sitting behind her was Redshirt sophomore Rachel Wilson, who hit double figures for the seventh straight game finishing with 11 points. She was the team's leader with nine rebounds and her biggest success would come from the charity stripe. Of her 11 points, nine of those would come from the free throw line, where she went 9-12 on the day. It was the third straight game in which Wilson hit four of more free throws as she continues racking up points for the Cardinals. The final double digit scored was Bryana Henderson, who finished with 10 points on the night. She would be a leader for the Cardinals from three-point range, hitting three of her seven shots from three-point range.
After the loss on Wednesday night, the Cardinals moved into a tie for third place with Glenville State at 9-6. However, they hold just a one-game lead over Concord and Charleston for the final spot to earn a first round bye in the MEC Tournament. As they head down this final stretch of games, each of their next three opponents are all teams battling for one of those six first round bye spots. Head Coach Anna Kowalska and her team are looking to focus one game at a time and rack up as many wins as they can down the stretch. They take the first step towards earning that bye with a win and a Davis & Elkins loss that would clinch them one of the ten spots in the MEC Tournament.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Bobcats are meeting for the 11th time in program history, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 9-2. The Cardinals are a perfect 5-0 on trips to Fairmont State, compared to a 4-2 mark inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Cardinals and Bobcats split the season series during the 2023-2024 season, and the Cardinals are looking to sweep the season series this season.
Saturday will mark the second time the two teams have met this season, with Wheeling winning the first matchup back on January 11th, 2025, in a game that the Cardinals won 67-52. Rachel Wilson would lead the way for the Cardinals in the matchup, finishing with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Emilia Sierra Lacosta was the other Cardinal to hit double figures, finishing with 12 points, while Kenzie Dalton added nine points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in the game.
The Details
Tip-off for Saturday's game is scheduled for 2 PM inside Bobcat Arena on the campus of Frostburg State University. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
