INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's basketball team hosted Wheeling on Wednesday evening at the Walker Convocation Center. A late game surge wasn't quite enough as the Yellow Jackets fell to the Cardinals, 80-73.
West Virginia State drops to 2-6 on the season, 1-4 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) with the loss. Wheeling improves to 3-5 on the year, 2-3 in the MEC with the win.
Sophomore
Charity Shears scored a career-high 33 points in the contest with eight three-point field goals made. Teammate
Destiny Fields continued her impressive rebounding numbers by reeling in 11 boards to go along with a team-high four steals.
Both teams got off to a sluggish start in the first period. The score was 7-3 in favor of the Cardinals at the half way point of the first quarter. Wheeling then went on a 10-5 run in the next two minutes to go ahead by six points, 14-8. The lead didn't last long thanks to a push by the Yellow Jackets in the closing minutes of the first period. West Virginia State scored 11 unanswered points to gain the lead, 19-14, with two minutes remaining in the opening stanza. The Yellow Jackets were up 23-17 going into the second period.
Wheeling made a comeback in the second quarter. They took the lead at the 6:33 mark, 28-26, and didn't give it up again for the remainder of the first half. The Yellow Jackets went into the locker room down by just a couple of buckets, 38-33.
During the third period, Wheeling outscored West Virginia State by a mere three-points, 21-19. Going into the final period of the game, the Yellow Jackets were faced with having to overcome a seven-point disadvantage, 59-52.
The Cardinals seized their largest lead of the game, 72-56, with approximately four minutes remaining in the contest. In the final three minutes, West Virginia State narrowed the deficit to only five points due to
Chloe Cheresne's free-throw shooting and a huge three-point bucket from
Charity Shears. Wheeling was left with 30 seconds to maintain its lead and did so.
West Virginia State scored more points off turnovers than the Cardinals. The Yellow Jackets scored 22 points off turnovers compared to eight by Wheeling.
The Yellow Jackets travel to West Liberty on Saturday, Dec. 14 for another MEC matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
