CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The University of Charleston Basketball teams are set to take on the Senators from Davis & Elkins College on Wednesday evening with tip set for 5:30 p.m. (Women's) and 7:30 p.m. (Men's) at the Wehrle Innovation Center.
Media Coverage:
Live Stats and video feed will be available for Wednesday's games through the links supplied below:
Men's Basketball Outlook:
The Golden Eagles Men's Basketball team (17-5, 11-5 MEC) dropped their second straight game on Sunday in the Division II Showcase by a score of 89-79. The Golden Eagles were led offensively by
Drew Rackley, who scored 33 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.
The Golden Eagles and Hilltoppers exchanged buckets through the first six minutes of the contest with West Liberty leading 16-14 at the 13:51 mark in the first half. A pair of three-point shots from the hands of Drew Rackley allowed Charleston to keep the game close before taking the lead on a converted and-one attempt from
Seth O'Neal Charleston held a 19-16 lead as Rackley accounted for eight points with 11:52 left in the half before West Liberty used an 7-2 run to take a 23-21 with just over ten minutes remaining.
Eight Charleston turnovers in the first 14 minutes of play allowed West Liberty to gain a 33-24 lead, part of a 16-3 run put together by the Hilltoppers. Charleston was able to break their scoreless drought as O'Neal converted on a three-point attempt with 5:20 remaining in the half before the teams exchanged buckets over the next two minutes with West Liberty leading 38-32. At the last media timeout of the half, Charleston trailed 40-32. Over the final three minutes, the teams exchanged buckets before Charleston closed out the frame with a short 3-0 run to hold the West Liberty lead to 44-37 in a very physical first half of play.
The Hilltoppers used an extensive full-court press in the first half to force 11 Golden Eagle turnovers, who as a team average just 13 per game. Rackley led Charleston in the first half with 14 points while Will Yoakum led the Hilltoppers with eleven. Charleston, who allowed West Liberty to grab just 11 offensive rebounds in their first matchup on December 11
th, allowed nine in the first half allowing West Liberty to execute on a handful of second-chance points.
The Hilltoppers came out to begin the second half operating under the same tempo as they did in the first and extended their lead to ten, leading 51-41 with 15:50 remaining in the contest. After trailing by 13 points with twelve minutes to go, Charleston began to find their stride as
Riley Heatherington put together two quick buckets for the Golden Eagles to cut their deficit to single digits. Heatherington cut Hilltopper lead to six after a converted three-point attempt with 9:30 remaining before a pair of free throws from West Liberty's Dalton Bolon brought the score to 64-56. Charleston cut the West Liberty lead to as low as four points with 7:20 remaining in the contest before a 5-0 WLU run brought the score to 70-61. The two teams exchanged buckets over the next three minutes as Hilltopper Head Coach Ben Howlett called a timeout with 4:43 remaining in the game with his squad leading 75-66.
Out of the timeout, the Hilltoppers forced two big turnovers in 40 seconds that resulted in five points and an 80-66 lead. The teams continued to exchange buckets over the last four minutes with the Hilltoppers holding on to take an 89-79 victory.
Full recap and box score
here
The Golden Eagles are coming of an 8-of-21 performance from beyond the arc on Sunday, their fifth straight single-digit three-point game. Prior to their last five, the Golden Eagles had put together double-digit converted three-pointers in four of their prior five games. The Golden Eagles hold the 9
th best rebound margin in Division II (8.1) while ranking 7
th as a team in field goal percentage (51.8%). A Top-30 three-point shooting team, the Golden Eagles have been led this season by Drew Rackley, who averages 17.77 points per game. Four of the five regular starters for the Golden Eagles are averaging double-digit points with the exception of Keith Williams, who adds 9.00 points per game for Charleston.
Scouting the Opponent:
Davis & Elkins comes into the contest holding a record of 6-16 (4-12 MEC) and finds themselves towards the bottom half of the MEC standings. The Senators have dropped four straight contests coming into Wednesday with their last victory coming on January 25
th against Wesleyan. The Senators are led offensively by Donte Dolman, who averages 17.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest while Senior Erkam Kiris averages 14.68 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest.
In their first matchup on January 11
th, the Golden Eagles shot 35-of-61 (57.4%) from the field while shooting just 6-of-20 from beyond the arc. Despite recording 20 assists, the Golden Eagles turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 19 points scored by the Senators off of turnovers.
Matchup History:
The Golden Eagles and the Senators have squared off eight times in their history with Charleston having won each of the games. Charleston's largest margin of victory came in their last matchup on January 11
th when the Golden Eagles defeated the Senators 91-57.
Women's Basketball Outlook:
The University of Charleston Golden Eagles Women's Basketball team (18-4, 13-3 MEC), improved to 7-2 on the road and picked up their first win at West Liberty since the 2008 season on Sunday with a 72-59 win over the Hilltoppers. The Golden Eagles were led Sunday by Anna Hayton, who scored 30 points (10-of-11) while collecting 15 rebounds.
The Golden Eagles and Hilltoppers began the game exchanging baskets while West Liberty scored their first 12 points of the game from beyond the arc. At the end of the first quarter, the Golden Eagles trailed the home team by one point, trailing 21-20.
Charleston held the opposition to just half of what they scored in the first quarter while scoring 14 of their own to take a three-point lead headed into the half. At the midway point, the Golden Eagles led 34-31.
Charleston came out hot in the second half, having outscored West Liberty 24-19. Despite having shot a three-pointer for the duration of the game, the Golden Eagles defense forced 15 Hilltopper turnovers, led by Emily Simon who tallied two steals.
The Golden Eagles carried an eight-point leaded headed into the final frame and outscored the Hilltoppers 14-9 to take home a 72-59 victory on The Hill. In addition to Hayton's big game, Erykah Russell added 20 points and 10 rebounds while Taliyah Hopkins scored 11 points and added 4 rebounds.
The Golden Eagles come into Wednesday ranked 3
rd in the MEC behind Notre Dame and one game behind Glenville State. Charleston holds the 14
th highest scoring offense in Division II (79.0 ppg) while ranking 8
th in three-point field goal percentage (38.7%). Charleston ranks 10
th in Division II in field goal percentage at 47.2% and is led offensively by Anna Hayton with 19.59 points per game while averaging 8.77 rebounds per game. Three other Golden Eagles average double-figure scoring including Brooklyn Pannell, Dakota Reeves, and Erykah Russell.
Scouting the Opponent:
Davis & Elkins comes into the contest holding a record of 6-16 (5-11 MEC). The Senators have dropped their last three games with their last win coming over West Liberty by a score of 71-69 on January 29
th. The Senators do not hold many top-50 ranks in Division II as a team but do rank 16
th in Division II in rebound margin (9.1). Jamiyah Johnson anchors the Senators on the boards, averaging 18.86 points and 15.14 rebounds per contest, good for 2
nd in Division II behind fellow MEC player Lilly Ritz (15.6 rpg).
Matchup History:
The Golden Eagles and Senators have squared off four times in their history with Charleston holding a 3-1 advantage. Their last matchup in January was the first since the 2012 season when the Senators picked up their only win of the series by a score of 69-57.
