Women's Basketball Falls in Road Contest to Glenville State
Glenville, W. Va. – On Saturday, the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team (6-16, 6-12) hit the road Saturday to face Glenville State. The Wheeling defense had a stronger game than they did the last time the two teams met, but Wheeling would end up falling to Glenville State 105-47. The Cardinals had one double-digit scorer on the day, but it wasn't enough to take down the Pioneers.
Through the first five minutes of the game, Wheeling was able to hang with the Pioneers and kept it as close as a one-point game. The team's traded buckets to start the game before an 8-2 run made the score 10-4. After allowing 141 points in the last meeting between the teams, it looked like Glenville State's offense was going to run away early on. However, Wheeling was able to battle back and hit a jumper and two free throws that brought the game to a 10-8 score. With four minutes left in the first, the score sat at 12-10 before Glenville State's offense got going again. The Pioneers scored the final 13 points of the quarter and led 25-10 with ten minutes gone in the game.
Junior Emily Holzopfel got the scoring started with a jumper in the second quarter and a three-pointer from Ava Lickliter would turn it into a 31-15 game with eight minutes left in the first half. The Cardinals would see several players get on the board in that second quarter with Ally Ziegler, Lickliter, Shanley Woods, and Jacqui Hinesmon all making contributions. The Cardinals added 10 more points over the final eight minutes of the second quarter and added 15 points in the quarter. They trailed 53-25 as the teams broke for halftime with Wheeling trying to figure a way to get the offense going. They were making 39% of their shots in that first half and looked to keep adding on as the game went on.
However, the third quarter would be Wheeling's weakest offensive quarter with the team scoring just nine points. The Pioneers scored nine points over the first two minutes of the quarter and led 62-25. Calhoun would score six of those nine points in the quarter hitting three buckets in the quarter to account for 2/3 of the Cardinals offense. At the end of the quarter, the Pioneers had a 78-34 lead. Over the final 10 minutes of play, Wheeling would unload their bench and get some players who don't normally see a lot of minutes a chance to get their feet wet against the best competition the Mountain East Conference (MEC) had to offer.
All but two Cardinals that entered the game ended up scoring, and Wheeling finished the day with 13 fourth-quarter points. However, the Pioneer's offense didn't let up scoring 27 fourth-quarter points as they eclipsed the 100-point mark for the second time this season against Wheeling. In that fourth quarter, Macyla Collins, Alivia Thompson, and Alysa Edwards-Frick all made their way into the game. Collins scored three points in the quarter, hitting a three-pointer while Thompson and Edwards-Frick were held off the board. The loss moved Wheeling to 6-12 in conference play and they are looking for a rebound as they come back home on Wednesday to face Fairmont State.
Lauren Calhoun was Wheeling's lone double-digit scorer on the day, finishing with 18 points while shooting 53.3% from the floor. Her streak of double-doubles ended as she grabbed two rebounds, but she continues to be the top scorers in all of the MEC. Behind Calhoun, five different Cardinals finished the day with four points as Lickliter, Woods, Hinesmon, Strayhorn, and Taylor Cullen all hit that mark. Hinesmon led both the defense and the passing game finishing with five rebounds and seven assists on the day. Saturday was the second to last road game for Wheeling this season as they look to rebound on their home court.
The Wheeling University Women's Basketball team is back in action on Wednesday, February 16th when they battle Fairmont State at 5:30 pm.