Wheeling, W.Va. – The #3 seed Charleston defeated #6 seed Wheeling in the quarterfinal matchup of the Mountain East Conference Tournament.
 
The Basics:
Location: WesBanco Arena
Score: UC 069 WU 55
Records: UC 19-10 (14-6 MEC) Wheeling 17-12 (12-8 MEC)
 
How it Happened:
The Mountain East Conference women's basketball quarterfinal matchup between the #3 seed Charleston Golden Eagles and the #6 seed Wheeling Cardinals opened with Charleston winning the initial tip and Ksenija Metric converting the floater in the paint for the first two points of the contest. After a pair of buckets from Bridget Womber and Natalie Smith, Jordan Scully found her first points of the contest with a three to give the Golden Eagles a 9-2 lead early in the contest. The Golden Eagles then went on a 3:03 dry spell but with 3:07 left in the first quarter, Paris Stokes found Jordan Scully for the corner three to break the drought, Charleston leading 13-9. With a close contested first quarter, Bridget Womber came up with a huge block before time would down, the Golden Eagles leading 15-11 heading to the second quarter.
 
Charleston opened the second quarter with back-to-back steals, and then a defensive board eventually leading to Paris Stokes on the charity stripe for two shots. Paris Stokes and Jordan Scully then hit consecutive threes to give Charleston their biggest lead of the contest, 25-13 over the Cardinals. The teams traded points for the next several minutes but as the buzzer sounded for halftime, Charleston controlled the lead 32-21.
 
Wheeling opened the third quarter with a free throw but after missing the second Charleston gained possession. Bridget Womber laid one off the glass for Charleston's first two points of the third, but the Cardinals responded with a three, UC still leading 34-25. The Golden Eagles then went on an 8-2 run, highlighted by back-to-back buckets from Natalie Smith, Charleston leading 42-27 over Wheeling at the media timeout. After a 9-0 Charleston run, the Cardinals hit a three, but the Golden Eagles still held a 17-point lead as time ran down on the third quarter, with just a minute remaining. Paris Stokes drove in a layup and converted the and-one to conclude the quarter, Charleston leading 54-33.
 
The Golden Eagles continued to control the momentum, gaining their largest lead of the contest at 23 after a Naveah Brooks three-pointer to give Charleston the 60-37 advantage. As the final media timeout was called, Charleston led 62-47, needing to maintain control for the remaining 3:51 of the contest. The Cardinals came out of the timeout and went on an 8-0 run, cutting the lead to 62-53 with 1:48 remaining in the contest. Coach Bubby Johnson was forced to call a timeout, but Paris Stokes responded well as she hit a three-pointer to extend Charleston's lead to 12 with under a minute remaining. The Golden Eagles were sent to the free-throw line in a last-ditch effort from the Cardinals, but after Paris Stokes sank both, Wheeling's chances faded away. The Golden Eagles went on to take the victory 69-55.
 
Up Next:
Charleston will face #7 seed Frostburg State on Saturday, March 7^th at 2:30PM in the semifinal match of the MEC tournament.