CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The University of Charleston squeaked out a victory Tuesday evening over University of Virginia College at Wise at the Charleston Catholic Athletic Complex, defeating the Cavaliers 70-67.
 
Charleston was led by Chyress Lockhart in the scoring column, netting 17 points despite only going 4-for-14 from the field but hit on nine of her 10 charity stripe attempts.  Olivia Nicholas scored a career-high 15 points in playing 38 minutes, shooting 78% from the field.  KJ Johnson was effective early in building Charleston's lead, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds.
 
The win is UC's second consecutive, improving their overall record to 7-11 and 5-7 in Mountain East Conference play.
 
The Golden Eagles fed the post early and often against Wise, claiming a 14-5 lead with Johnson getting easy looks around the rim for eight of 13 points.  Charleston held a 20-9 lead after one quarter of play and led by as many as 16, 32-16, in the second before the Cavaliers got on track to trim it to seven, 35-28, with only seconds left in the half.  Lockhart drove to the hoop in the waning seconds to score a layup and draw a foul, converting the old-fashioned three-point play, giving UC a 38-28 halftime lead.
 
The Cavaliers came out of the halftime break with added intensity and got results for their hard play, cutting into UC's lead to trail by just six points at the midway point of the third quarter.  Wise continued their inspired play through the quarter narrowing UC's once double-digit lead to just two, 50-48, heading into the final quarter.
 
Lockhart took over in the fourth quarter for the Golden Eagles to keep Wise at arms reach, but the Cavaliers continued to hit from the outside to stay within striking distance.  The Golden Eagles held a four-point, 66-62, lead with under two minutes to play only to see the Cavaliers score the next five points and take their first lead of the game, 67-66, within under one minute to play.  Johnson gave UC the lead back on a offensive rebound put pack, 68-67 as the clock worked itself under 30 seconds.  The Charleston defense came up big down the stretch with Charleston holding a 70-67 lead, blocking consecutive attempts by the Cavs to hold on to the thrilling three-point victory.