Wheeling, W. Va. – For the first time during the 2025-2026 season, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (10-8, 5-5) battled rival West Liberty in "The Battle for Wheeling." The Cardinals took the short ride up Route 88 and a fast start would drive them as they came out victorious in a 78-52 win. It was a big day from freshman Emma Reynolds, who led the Cardinals in her first ever "The Battle for Wheeling" game, under the net that led the Cardinals to even their Mountain East Conference (MEC) record at 5-5.
The freshman would set a new career-high with 21 points, banking the first two of those in the game's opening minute. She accounted for five of the team's first nine points, with a three-pointer at the 7:37 mark of the first quarter making it a 9-4 Wheeling lead. The Hilltoppers came right back, responding with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes as they overtook Wheeling 11-9. A par of Layla Merriweather free throws would even the score before the media timeout and, after a Hilltopper three after the break, it was again the sophomore that sent the team on the quarter ending run. Wheeling would score the final 15 points of the quarter, flipping a 14-12 deficit into a 26-14 lead by the end of the first quarter. Merriweather accounted for five points during the run, and Reynolds capped things off with a three-pointer, bringing her total for the quarter to eight points.
The Cardinals shot the ball at a 58.8% clip in the first half, including a 50% mark from beyond the arc. The success continued into the new half, with Merriweather and Dalton adding three Cardinal points before West Liberty broke the run. Emilia Sierra Lacosta would get the Cardinals over the 30-point mark with a jumper and Reynolds added a layup as Wheeling took a 33-19 lead with 6:51 to play in the half. With the Cardinals pulling away, they began to spread the ball around, and HillRo Baker got her second three-pointer of the day to make the score 36-22 heading into the final first half media timeout. It started the Cardinals on their second double digit run of the half, this time a 10-0 swing in which four different Caridnals contributed. Sierra Lacosta would end the run with a three and the Cardinals held a 43-22 lead with 1:18 to go before the break. The Hilltoppers would get the final shot before the half, but Wheeling went into the locker room with a commanding 43-24 advantage.
Despite a short drop off on shooting percentage during the second quarter, the Cardinals were still shooting the ball at a 48% clip from the floor. Reynolds kept riding her high into the second half, putting the first points on the board, but a 5-0 run for West Liberty made it a 45-29 game two minutes into the new half. West Liberty would outscore the Cardinals 6-4 over the first four minutes of the half, when Hillari Baker evened the score with a driving layup. The Hilltoppers got the advantage back with a layup heading into the media timeout, but Reynolds would end up closing out the half for her team. She would account for six of the team's final eight points of the quarter, bringing her total for the game to 18 points. Her final two free throws would be the final points of the half and Wheeling went into the final quarter holding a 57-38 advantage heading to the final 10 minutes of play.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Hilltoppers would make one final push for the lead, outscoring Wheeling 5-2 over the first three minutes of play. Dalton would break the run with three free throws, with the final of those free throws sending the game into its final media timeout. The Cardinals would lead 65-47 and Reynolds would end her big day with a three-pointer to get her to the 21 point mark. Wheeling would finish the game from the free throw line over the final five minutes, going 7;10 (70%) over the final five minutes of play. Dalton, Sierra Lacosta, Elena Marin Dawid, and Baker would all contribute during the run and the Cardinals would lead 76-52 with 44 seconds to play. It would be Baker that finished out the night with a driving lay-up, and it brought the game to its final score of 78-52. It evened the Cardinal's conference record to 5-5 and helped them earn their 10th win of the season.
Pacing the effort was freshman Emma Reynolds, who finished with 21 points in the winning effort. She set a new career high by four points, and was the team's most efficient shooter on the day, going 8-11 (72.7%) from the floor and adding a 3-5 mark from three-point range. Kenzie Dalton followed her effort with 19 points while adding six rebounds and three assists. Emilia Sierra Lacosta and Hillari Baker would be the final two double-digit scorers on the day, finishing with 11 points each. Sierra Lacosta would lead both the rebounding (7) passing (3), and stealing game (4), while Baker came up with the lone block in the effort. As a team, the Cardinals shot 44.6% (25-56), including a 43.8% (7-16) from three-point range, to round out an efficient shooting game.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, January 28th, when they travel to the University of Charleston with tip-off at 5:30 PM.
