Charleston, W. Va – The Golden Eagles, seeking their first conference win, rose the occasion on Wednesday night. Undefeated in the Mountain East Conference, the Hilltoppers of West Liberty came in on a four-game winning streak, with their last win coming at home in a 78-72 battle with West Virginia Wesleyan.
The Basics
Location: Wehrle Innovation Center
Score: UC 94, WLU 60
Records: UC 3-6 (1-4 MEC), WLU 5-3 (3-1 MEC)
How it Happened
The first quarter would feature a back-and-forth battle, with the Hilltoppers pulling away midway through the period with a 12-6 run to begin the game. Clarrissa Francis would open up Charleston's scoring with the first six points of the night for the Golden Eagles. Charleston would take the final three minutes of the period to go on a 13-5 run that would be capped off with a quick layup from Taylor Austin after stealing the ball on the other end of the court. The Golden Eagles would take a 19-17 lead heading into the second quarter, but the Hilltoppers would have the better quarter, shooting 64% from the field and adding 22 points to the board while Charleston would go 6-17 inside the arc. Adjustments would have to be made in the locker room with Charleston down 39-34 at the halftime break.
The Golden Eagles would come out of the halftime break and take the game over. They would go on to score an incredible 37 points and limit the Hilltoppers to just nine on the other end. Despite struggling to shoot from beyond the arc this year, Charleston would go 75% (6-8) from three-point land. The deep shots would be largely credited to Kiara Cruz, who finished the night 5-8 from deep territory. Cruz electrified the Golden Eagle crowd in the Wehrle Innovation Center with three triples in the quarter, alongside Nakiyah Bumgardner-Ferguson and Taylor Austin who contributed the other three triples. Charleston would take the fourth quarter to extend their lead outscoring the Hilltoppers 23-12 and "cruz" to a 94-60 victory over West Liberty, securing their first Mountain East Conference win of the year.
Francis and Cruz would both finish the night with 19 points, followed by Austin with 17 and Nia Vanzant with 15. The Golden Eagles finished the night with a 53% conversion rate inside the perimeter and shooting 12-20 three pointers.
Up Next
Charleston will travel to face the undefeated Wheeling Cardinals this Saturday in the Alma Grace McDonough Gym on December 9
th at 2:00 PM.
