Charleston, W. Va – The University of Charleston men's and women's basketball teams will head to Wheeling to compete in the Mountain East Conference Tournament tomorrow at the WesBanco Arena. Both of these teams reached the MEC Championship in 2022, with the women winning the bracket over the #1 ranked team in the country and national champions, Glenville State University. The men fell to an always talented West Liberty Hilltoppers squad by a score of 70-59 in a very competitive game of basketball. This year, both teams come into the tournament ranked as the #3 seed in each bracket. In the men's tournament, West Liberty tops the seeding followed by Fairmont State University. On the women's side, Glenville State leads the way as the #1 seed for the second year in a row, followed by the West Virginia State Yellow Jackets, who the Golden Eagles have yet to beat this season. 
 
Dwaine Osborne has led this 2022-2023 team to a 16-6 conference record in the regular season. Midway through the year, we saw an electrifying 10-game winning streak highlighted with a big-time 86-83 win over West Virginia State in the Walker Convocation Center back in January. Although the Yellow Jackets evened the season series on Senior Day in the Wehrle Innovation Center last Saturday, this team has displayed the ability to play high-caliber basketball on the road. This Friday, they will face the #6 seed Davis & Elkins University at 2:30. The last time these two teams met, the Golden Eagles would take a 105-66 victory at home. With a 2-0 record in the season series with the Senators, Charleston has a lot of confidence moving to the semi-final, especially after naming three players to the All-MEC Lists: Keith Williams to the First Team, Tyler Eberhart to the Second Team, and Eddie Colbert III to the Honorable Mention lineup. Charleston also landed the MEC Freshman of the Year in CJ Meredith.
 
After winning the tournament in 2022, Tianni Kelly will have high expectations as her team travels to the Northern Panhandle. The team would also finish with a 16-6 conference record highlighted with their regular season 79-70 victory over the Glenville State Pioneers in their first MEC matchup at home. There are many dangerous teams in this year's tournament, meaning no team will be taken lightly. Despite their win over the Pioneers, the following week would entail an overtime loss to the Fairmont State Falcons. Tomorrow at 2:30 PM they will take on the #6 seed, Wheeling University. Even though the Cardinals finished with a 12-10 MEC regular season record, the team defeated West Virginia State 97-77 in Institute, WV and also held Grand Valley State, the #1 team in the country, to just 73 points in a loss back in December. The ladies also named veterans Trinity Palacio, Dakota Reeves, and Markyia McCormick to All-MEC lists.