Wheeling, W. Va. - After a season full of ups and downs, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (17-11, 12-8) earned the #6 seed in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament field and the first-round bye for the second straight season. With the First-Round action kicking off Wednesday, the Cardinals will tip-off their tournament run on Thursday, March 5th, when they take on #4 seeded The University of Charleston at 2:30 PM. Wheeling is looking to advance past the quarterfinal round for the first time since the 2021-2022 season.
Wheeling ended the 2025-2026 season with a bang, defeating West Liberty 79-76 for their 17th win of the season. It was a back and forth game down to the final buzzer, with the Cardinals holding an early 17-15 advantage after the first quarter. The Cardinals shot 46.7% (7-15) from the floor in the quarter, and it would end up benefitting them as they held that lead into halftime. They led 30-28 heading into the break, and both offenses would make adjustments combining to score 97 points over the game's final 20 minutes. The Cardinals were trailing 73-72 and needed one final push. It would be freshman Emma Reynolds that got them the lead with a pair of layups and two Cardinal free throws would ice the Caridnal win at 79-76.
Leading the way for Wheeling was senior Kenzie Dalton, who reached a pair of milestones in the winning effort. She would set a career-high with 33 points in the effort, while shooting an impressive 13-16 (81.2%) from the floor. She added five steals in the winning effort and three assists, bringing her to her pair of milestones. She reached both the 300 career steals and 500 career assists mark, becoming just the second player in program history to ever hit the 300 career steal mark. The 33-point effort was part of a string of recent success for the senior, who has scored in double-figures in nine straight games. During that span, she is averaging 22.4 points per game and will look to continue being a scoring leader for her team throughout the MEC Tournament.
As she helped the Cardinals close out the win, Emma Reynolds finished right behind Dalton with 15 points in the paint. She accounted for nearly half of her team's offense under the net, going 6-9 (66.7%) from the floor, and threw in a 2-5 mark from the charity stripe. She has been a big presence for the Cardinals under the net on both sides of the ball, sitting second on the team with 149 rebounds, and looks to keep that success up in the tournament. The second half of the Cardinal's offensive attack this season has been provided by Emilia Sierra Lacosta, who is averaging 12.7 points per game. She would put up 10 points against West Liberty, but has been the Cardinal's second best three-point shooter among starters this season, hitting 30.7% of her shots from beyond the arc.
As they enter tournament play, the Cardinals are looking to break the curse of first round losses that have plagued them over the last three seasons. The Cardinals have dropped their first game of the tournament in each of the last three seasons, with two of those three losses coming at the hands of the Golden Eagles. This year, the Cardinals have some veteran presence on their side, with Dalton, Graci Fairman, and Layla Merriweather all having previous tournament experience, The Cardinals are advancing to the quarterfinal round for the third straight season, and finished one seed lower than they did in last year's tournament. They have dropped each of their two games to the Golden Eagles earlier this season by a combined eight points, and will look to take them in the third meeting of the season.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Golden Eagles will be meeting for the 46th time in program history on Thursday, and the eighth time in postseason history. Charleston leads the all-time series at 35-10 overall hold a 6-1 advantage over the Cardinals in postseason play. Wheeling dropped the 2025-26 season series to the Golden Eagles, and are 1-17 in their last 18 meetings with the Golden Eagles. They have been the Cardinal's first round play-off opponent in two of the last three seasons, and Wheeling looks to turn the tide.
The last meeting between the two teams came on January 28th in a game that Charleston would win 67-64. It was a big game for Emilia Sierra Lacosta, whp put up 21 points and shot 2-6 from three-point range in the effort. She was followed by an 11 point effort from Elena Marin Dawid, and 10 points from Emma Reynolds while Kenzie Dalton scored four and put up 11 rebounds.
The Details
Tip-off for Thursday's quarterfinal match is scheduled for 2:30 PM inside WesBanco Arena. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
