Wheeling, W, Va- The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (14-11), (9-8) traveled to Athens, W.V this past Wednesday to take on the Concord Mountain Lions. Even though the Mountain Lions were on a five-game win streak, had only three losses at home to that point, and are an efficient offensive unit; the Cardinals did not care about any of that. Wheeling outperformed Concord on their own floor to pick up an 84-71 upset victory on the back of a dominating second and third quarter performance and having a field goal percentage above at least 60% in three of the four quarters played.
Kenzie Dalton displayed her dominance once again against Concord, tying her season-high of 28 points for the third time. Going into the contest, she was riding a three-game double-double streak. Unfortunately, that streak would not continue as she finished the night with seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. However, the senior has nothing to hang her head about. Dalton has been on a tear since the start of February, averaging just under 24 PPG 8.4 RPG, and 5.0 APG. Additionally, she has made a little under half of her shots from the field during this five-game stretch, including her 10 of 13 shooting performance against the Mountain Lions, which happened to be her most efficient display of the season. Dalton is a top five scorer in the Mountain East Conference (MEC), averaging 17.0 PPG and is top 10 rebounder, field goal, and free throw shooter all while leading the league with 3.1 SPG and 5.3 APG. To top all of that off, she will enter Saturday's game against Glenville State only eight points away from achieving the 1,000-point milestone in her collegiate career.
Emma Reynolds has been very entertaining to watch recently too. Her 19 points against Concord on Wednesday marked the freshman's first double-digit point finish since the February 4th outing against West Virginia Wesleyan. It is important to note that in the three games between Wesleyan and Concord; she finished with eight points in each contest, meaning that she has played an active part in the Cardinal offense. After her seven made shots from the field against the Mountain Lions, Reynolds now shoots at a 47.1% clip on the season, which should put her in the All-MEC freshman conversation.
Graci Fairman has been slowly heating up over the past two games, but the senior exploded for 17 points, making seven shots from the field and three of four shots from the foul line. Her outing against the Mountain Lions came just two points shy of her season-high of 19 that she set on December 6th while on the road against Salem. Nevertheless, Fairman has been serviceable for the Cards this season, shooting a hair under 39% from the floor while averaging 9.4 PPG.
Against the Mountain Lions, the Cardinals recorded their best shooting percentage from the field at 59.3%, previously topping their 53.2% display against Glenville State back on January 17th. The team shot well from downtown as well, recording their second-highest three-point field goal percentage of 41.7%. The Cardinals continue to boast the top scoring defense in the MEC, giving up an average of 58.6 PPG while only surrendering just under 25% of shots from beyond the perimeter.
The win against Concord puts Wheeling in sixth place in the conference. Despite this, they will host the first-place team in the league tomorrow afternoon, and that team is unlikely to forget what happened the last time they played against the Cardinals.
Lady Pioneers Looking for Revenge
Glenville State is coming off a 102-95 win at home against West Liberty. Senior Carine Pinkney led the offense with 24 points after making 10 of 19 from the field. Senior Wonder Nkoyock recorded a season-high 22 points against the Hilltoppers.
Even though the Lady Pioneers have a 31-11 record against the Cardinals dating back to 2000, Wheeling stunned the GSU fateful when the Cardinals strolled out of the Waco Center with a 69-66 upset win. Reynolds nailed the dagger with a successful three-point shot with 23 seconds remaining, and Dalton made both free throws after being fouled to secure the win, snapping a then nine-game winning streak for Glenville State. Layla Merriweather ended that game with 27 points while Emilia Sierra Lacosta recorded 14. Five players ended in double-digit point figures for the Lady Pioneers, including a team-high 14 points from sophomore Nwando Okigbo.
The Details
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team welcomes the Glenville State Lady Pioneers tomorrow, February 21st for a 2pm tipoff. The game will be streamed live on the Mountain East Digital Network HERE and Live Stats will be available to view HERE.
