Glenville, W. Va- The world of college basketball is a crazy and unpredictable one. It only takes one shot to make the difference between winning and losing, and that was true for the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (8-8), (4-5). The Cardinals went on the road to upset the top team in the Mountain East Conference (MEC), the Glenville State Pioneers, 69-66. Three Cardinals finished with 10 or more points, including Layla Merriweather, who finished with a game-high 27 points.
After winning the jump ball, the Cardinals gained possession first, and Emilia Sierra Lacosta received a pass from Merriweather to kick things off at the Waco Center. The Lady Pioneers stole the ball away after they had made a layup, which set them up for a three-pointer to go up 5-2. Merriweather showed off her mid-range game with a jumper, but GSU's Carine Pinkney made her way to the basket 10 seconds later. Another point for the Lady Pioneers saw them up 9-4 with over eight minutes left in the quarter, but Kenzie Dalton and her great anticipation stole the ball away, and she drove down the court for an easy layup. Nearly 40 seconds later, Lacosta found Graci Fairman open behind the arc and she sank the deep shot to tie the game at nine with seven minutes left to play. The Cardinal run continued when Merriweather's jumper hit, and it gave Wheeling an 11-9 lead, but the 7-0 run ended after the Lady Pioneers converted a three-pointer to retake the lead. Dalton managed to secure her second steal and dished the rock over to Fairman before the media timeout for a 13-12 Cardinal advantage. Another three-pointer from Glenville's Jayda Allie came and went, but Merriweather did not allow it to phase her as she tied it back up at 15 with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. About two minutes passed before Merriweather extended her team's lead, hitting a mid-range jumper and drilling a three ball for another 7-0 run for the Cardinals before the Lady Pioneers recorded the final three points of the quarter. Wheeling ahead of Glenville State, 20-19.
GSU's Nwando Okigbo hit on the first jumper of the new quarter, and it would remain the only points scored for two and a half minutes until Merriweather drew a shooting foul and made both attempts at the line to give Wheeling a 22-21 lead. Hillari Baker received a pass from Dalton, and she knocked down the distance shot. Baker's three-pointer sparked another sizable 9-3 run as Lacosta showed off her range twice, and the Cards were suddenly up 31-24 with under five minutes left. It was Glenville's turn to respond, and that they did. They worked to make it a two-point game, 33-31, but Emma Reynolds and Lacosta were both on target fromrange, and they helped Wheeling take a 39-34 lead into the locker room.
The Cardinals came out soaring in the third quarter with an 8-3 run kicked off by Dalton spotting Merriweather for a three-pointer. A steal from Reynolds gave them the ball back, Merriweather attempted to pull the trigger from deep again. However, she was fouled, so she was sent to the line for three free shots, and by making all of them, Wheeling had its first double-digit lead of 11 points, 45-34. A three-ball and jumper from GSU's Ashlyn Riley split up Dalton's layup as the Cardinals were still ahead 47-39 with 7:52 remaining in the third. Following a two-and-a-half-minute scoreless stretch, Fariman picked up three points by dropping in a layup after being fouled and converting the shot at the charity stripe. The next point came after the media stoppage when Fairman drove to the rack again, was fouled, and completed another three-point play for a 53-40 Wheeling advantage with 3:16 left in the third. The Lady Pioneers locked in and went on a 9-2 run in the span of 1:44 to now only trail by six, 55-49. GSU made a free throw at the end of the third quarter, but Wheeling remained in front 55-50 heading into the final quarter.
Lacosta's three-pointer became the first field goal of the fourth quarter, extending the lead to 58-51. GSU made another free throw, but Dalton found Elena Marin Dawid for a layup to give the Cards an eight-point lead with 7:10 remaining in the fourth. The Lady Pioneers added eight unanswered across 2:14 of play to get it back to a tie game for the first time since second quarter, 60-60. Merriweather drove into the paint for two layups to give Wheeling the lead again, but the Lady Pioneers came up huge with a deep shot and a layup to gain a 65-64 lead with under 1:15 remaining. Then, with 23 seconds left, Reynolds clutched up for the Cardinals and swished a shot from range to go back on top 67-65. Dalton attempted a shot, but was fouled, and with her making both attempts, that meant the Wheeling Cardinals had upset the top team in the MEC by a final score of 69-66.
Layla Merriweather finished with 27 points by making 10 of 17 shots from the field and making all five of her free throw attempts. Emilia Sierra Lacosta ended the afternoon with 14 points and hit four of her eight shots from behind the arc. Graci Fairman recorded 11 points, made 50% of her shots from the field, and led the Cardinals with five rebounds. Kenzie Dalton ended with six points and an eye-opening 10 assists. Emma Reynolds registered six points, followed by three points from Hillari Baker and two from Elena Marin Dawid.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team returns home to host the Salem Tigers on Wednesday, January 21st, 2026. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
