Wheeling, W.Va- The Mountain East Conference (MEC) is one of the more demanding conferences in NCAA Division II. There are no nights off, and tonight, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (6-7), (2-4) experienced just that as they fell to the Fairmont State Fighting Falcons on Thursday night by a score of 76-67. Kenzie Dalton led the way with 19 points while shooting 7-16 from the field and Emilia Sierra Lacosta recorded her second double-double of the season.
Fairmont got off to a hot start when it raced out to a 6-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes of play. Dalton and Graci Fairman each hit their shots from mid-range to bring it within two, but the Fighting Falcons' lead extended further to 13-6, forcing Wheeling to take its first timeout of the game. Out of the break, Elena Marin Dawid connected with the basket on a jump shot, but it was answered back immediately by Fairmont. Both the Cardinals and the Falcons turned the ball over twice on the following possessions due to great defense, and they both were held scoreless for about a minute. Shortly after, the Falcons gained its first double-digit lead with roughly a minute left to play in the first when a layup made it 19-8. Lacosta would quickly snatch a defensive rebound, throw it down court to Fairman, and her buzzer-beater layup ended the first quarter with Fairmont pacing Wheeling 19-10.
The Fighting Falcons continued its quick pace with two baskets in 20 seconds and then another two baskets to stretch the gap to 27-12 with eight minutes remaining in the half. Fairmont and Lacosta each drove in for layups before another scoreless drought came about. However, this time it lasted for nearly a minute and a half before the Falcons put up two layups for a 33-17 lead. As halftime approached, Lacosta drove to the hoop to lay in two baskets, and Dalton hit a jumper to respond to Fairmont's baskets between theirs. Avery Davis sank a three-pointer to end the first half with Fairmont leading 39-26.
The Cardinals opened the third quarter better than the previous two as Lacosta did some work in the paint, and Dawid drained a shot from downtown to cut the deficit to 10. Layla Merriweather drew a foul with 7:34 left in the third, and because she made both of her free throws, the Cardinals found themselves down by single-digits, 41-33. Roughly three minutes of hard defense, including steals from Dalton and Merriweather ticked the clock to a little over five minutes remaining when Dalton broke the scoreless run with a layup in the paint. A Falcon free throw and layup put it back to a double-digit gap, but another layup from Dalton brought it back to nine, 46-37 with 3:39 left in the third. Fairmont added some more points to its side of the board when it went on a small 7-2 run for a 53-39 score with a minute and a half left. Merriweather and Dalton closed out the third with a jump shot each to make it 56-43.
Wheeling knew it was showtime now and that it would need to put on a dramatic performance if it wanted to pull away with the upset. Merriweather's two jumpers began the final quarter of play, but five points from the Falcons had them trailing 61-47 with 8:44 left. Two free throws from Dalton brought it to within 12, but Fairmont got those points back on a layup right after. Dalton came back with a layup inside the paint and a free throw, and then the Cardinals started to feel themselves. With seven minutes remaining through the under-five minute media timeout, Wheeling went on a 7-2 run, and now it did not seem impossible to finish the comeback only down by two possessions, 65-59. The Cardinals' fire was not put out, and they picked up right where they left off before the timeout and went on another 6-2 run, and just like that, they were only down by two. Now with under two minutes to play, Merriweather drove in for a layup to make it 69-67, but unfortunately, the Fighting Falcons finished out the game on a 7-0 from free throws and left the Cardinals to deal with the 76-67 loss.
Four of the five starters ended with double-digit point totals. Kenzie Dalton led the Cardinals with 19 points and finished with seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Graci Fairman ended her night with 13 points while Emilia Sierra Lacosta recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Layla Merriweather registered 10 points and three steals, Elena Marin Dawid recorded seven points, Emma Reynolds finished with four points, and Avery Davis ended with three.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team will travel to Maryland to take on the Frostburg Bobcats on Saturday, January 10th, 2025, at 2pm.
