Wheeling, W. Va- The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (7-8), (3-5) was unable to take care of business in front of the home crowd this evening when it was defeated 66-54 by the Concord Mountain Lions. Layla Merriweather and Kenzie Dalton each recorded 17 points to lead the Cardinals' offense. Despite the loss, the Cardinals were responsible with the ball, only turning it over six times compared to Concord's 18, and it held the Mountain Lions to just one three-pointer all night long.
The Mountain Lions jumped out to an early 7-4 advantage in the opening three and a half minutes, but Emma Reynolds drained a three pointer to tie it up at seven a side. Emilia Sierra Lacosta drove into the paint for two points to take a brief 10-9 lead. However, Concord would go on to score five unanswered over the following three minutes until Layla Merriweather knocked down a jumper with 2:57 remaining in the first. Four more points were added by the Mountain Lions, and the opening quarter concluded after a pair of free throws were made by Kenzie Dalton as the Cards were down by five, 19-14.
The second quarter featured just 17 points between the two teams, which is a credit to the defense on both sides for taking away opportunities from the other. Graci Fairman opened the new quarter with a jump shot inside the arc roughly two minutes into the second quarter and then it was answered by Concord, and they led 21-16. Time had passed, and a Mountain Lions' jump shot added two more points. Even more time passed, and they added two more points via the free throw line. Dalton carried the ball up the court and hit on a mid-range jumper to bring the margin down to seven. On the next possession, Fairman pickpocketed a defender,and Dalton was able to drive inside to make it 25-20 with 2:43 remaining in the half. Unfortunately, Concord made a layup and a three pointer before the buzzer sounded to give themselves a 10-point lead at halftime, 30-20.
Merriweather opened the third quarter with the first three points by drawing a foul and making the and-one attempt. She continued to produce by using the backboard to drop the ball in and hitting a shot from range, but the Cardinals remained down 34-28. It was here that the Mountain Lions went on an 11-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to put 17 points between themselves and the Cards, 45-28. A free throw from Hillari Baker ended the scoreless drought at the 4:14 mark of the quarter, but a steal from Baker allowed Lacosta to end the field goal drought nearly two minutes later. The Lacosta jumper sparked a 6-0 run for Wheeling all in the form of free throws by Dalton to end the third quarter with Concord ahead 47-37.
Concord continued to have their way to open the fourth with another big run. This time, it was a 15-2 run across nearly five minutes to stretch their lead to 21, 60-39. A heads-up steal by Dalton gave Dawid a chance to throw the ball up into the hoop to start chipping into the deficit. Dalton and Merriweather alternated jumpers, and the Mountain Lions returned the favor between them and made it 66-48. The contest closed after Baker nailed back-to-back shots from downtown for a final score of 66-54 in favor of the Mountain Lions.
Layla Merriweather and Kenzie Dalton each led the team with 17 points and six rebounds. Hillari Baker finished with seven points and Emilia Sierra Lacosta ended with six points.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team will travel to take on Glenville State University on Saturday, January 17th, 2025, with tip-off scheduled for 2pm.
