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CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A stifling defensive effort by the University of Charleston women’s basketball team held Shepherd to 27 percent shooting as the Golden Eagles advanced to the West Virginia Conference tournament semifinals with a 74-62 win, Wednesday evening.
Senior Tarenna Dixon (Morgantown, W.Va./University) led the charge for UC (23-6) with her 13th double-double of the season as she booked 17 points and 11 rebounds. In her first game back on the court in two weeks Ali Tobias (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) showed that her ails were no match for her will to be part of tournament play. Tobias split the offensive honors with Dixon as she accounted for 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Early in the first half the teams battled to a deadlock on six occasions as neither was able to exploit their opportunities, yet with 9:22 on the clock Charleston’s offensive power finally prevailed to pull out to a consistent seven point advantage. The Golden Eagles shot 50 percent (15-of-30) in the opening half to hold its lead and take the 38-31 score into the locker room.
UC owned a 17 rebound advantage on the defensive glass that allowed it to outscore the Rams (15-13) 8-0 on second chance points in the second half as the Golden Eagles slowly opened up their lead in the closing stanza. Charleston held a lead of as much as 17 points in the second half before weathering a final gasp by Shepherd, which would pull the visiting team to within seven points again with 3:03 remaining in the game.
Dixon, Tobias and leading scorer Lindsey Kentner (Wapakoneta, Ohio/Wapakoneta) sealed the game down the stretch and shut off the comeback line for SU by hitting 6-of-9 free throws down the stretch to secure the 12 point win (74-62). Kentner concluded the evening as the games top scorer with 18 point on 6-of-18 shooting.
Tiana Beatty (Charleston ,W.Va./Capital) rounded out the double-digit scorers for Charleston with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Shelby Fayak led Shepherd with a 14 point and 13 rebound effort.
The victory propels the University of Charleston into the semifinals of the West Virginia Conference tournament against Seton Hill at 1:00 pm on Thursday, March 4 at the Charleston Civic Center.
