Athens, W. Va- The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (14-11), (9-8) hit the road to take on the Concord Mountain Lions on Wednesday night. What happened next was something not many would have predicted as the Cardinals practically went make-for-make with one of the league's top offensive units and still outperformed them. Wheeling would shoot at least 60% from the field in three of the four quarters to upset Concord 84-71 and put a screeching halt to the Mountain Lions' five-game winning streak in front of their student body. Four Cardinals finished with double-digit point figures, including Kenzie Dalton, who recorded a floor-high of 28 points after making 10 of 13 shots from the field.
Concord started out strong with a 6-0 run across the opening three minutes of play until Kenzie Dalton hit the target from mid-range. The next Cardinal possession saw Emma Reynolds knock down a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 8-5, but a Concord layup extended the gap to five, 10-5, with 7:12 left in the first quarter. The teams traded offensive blows when Emilia Sierra Lacosta came down with two points, and Dalton nailed a three-pointer to go down 15-10 with five and half left. Following the first media timeout, the Cards and Mountain Lions went bucket-for-bucket again in the form of Dalton recording four points and Elena Marin Dawid picking up her first pair of points of the night. With under 30 seconds remaining, Hillari Baker snatched the ball away from the Mountain Lions, and Dalton picks up two more points. Concord answered with a jumper, but Baker drained a buzzer-beater from deep to only trail by two, 24-22, at the break.
Reynolds picked up the first Cardinal points to cut the lead to one, 26-25, in the opening minute of the second quarter. Despite a timely steal and three-point attempt, Wheeling was not on target, so Concord was able to land their shot from distance. However, the Cardinals were about to heat up. Following the Concord deep shot, Reynolds' field goal got it back to a two-point game. Then, Dalton sank the game-tying shot with a layup off the glass at the 7:32 mark. Once Reynolds went one-for-two at the line to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game, there was no turning back. Wheeling went on an 8-2 that went until the second quarter media stoppage to give themselves a 38-31 lead with 4:23 left until halftime. The Mountain Lions kept pace with the Cardinals, but Wheeling was still buzzing. Graci Fairman got on the board to make it 40-31, and after back-to-back makes from the Mountain Lions and about a minute and a half ticked off the clock, Lacosta hit from distance to make it a 43-35 game. Fairman made the last shot of the half to help Wheeling bring a 45-37 advantage into the locker room.
The teams traded the opening four field goals over the first five minutes of the third quarter. Dawid and Reynolds each recorded four points in that span, while Lacosta and Fairman each contributed two points. With a hair under four minutes left, Reynolds came out of the media stoppage with a shot off the backboard and Dalton and Lacosta each drilled in three-pointers to give Wheeling a 14-point cushion as they ended the third quarter up 63-49.
After a one-for-two trip at the line for Concord to open the final frame of play, Fairman and Dalton added a field goal each to give Wheeling a 67-50 lead with eight minutes remaining. About 45 seconds later, Baker swished the ball in the net from behind the arc to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the night at 18 points when she made the score 70-52. The Mountain Lions went on a 7-0 run over the next minute to make it 70-59. Following the final media timeout of the game, Fairman splashed in two points with a mid-range jumper and then converted on a three-point play after being fouled to make it 75-59 with 3:41 left in the fourth. She added four more points after that, and then Dalton ended the game at the free throw line, converting five of six attempts. With the sound of the buzzer, the Cardinals had officially pulled off the upset victory, taking down the Mountain Lions by a final score of 84-71.
Even though her three-game double-double streak came to a close after tonight's impressive win, Kenzie Dalton still showed out, finishing with 28 points while making 10-13 shots from the field. She added seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocks as well. Emma Reynolds ended the night with 19 points after making seven shots from the field and three of six from downtown. Graci Fairman exploded for 17 points and also made seven shots from the field. Emilia Sierra Lacosta recorded 10 points, made 57.1% of her shots, and made two of four three-point attempts.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team returns to the McDonough Center on Saturday, February 21st to host the Glenville State Pioneers at 2pm.
