Storylines – vs Shepherd University
After winning three consecutive games, Shepherd dropped a 122-70 decision at Glenville State Saturday. Morgan Arden continues to lead the Rams offense with her 13.1 points per game average. Most recently, Arden came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points in the loss to Glenville State. In its win over Fairmont State, Shepherd saw Liz Myers turn in a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Kayla Tibbs scored 15 points off the bench. Hot shooting spurred the Shepherd victory as the Rams missed just seven second half shots en route to shooting 68.2 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes. Shepherd currently stands in a four-way tie for seventh place in the league standings. More importantly for the Rams, Jenna Eckleberry's team is just a game out of sixth place. This year's conference tournament will award byes to the top six teams with teams seeded seventh through tenth playing opening round games. Saturday's game begins a three-game home stand for Shepherd, the Rams are 3-5 at home this season.
About UVa-Wise
UVa-Wise enters Thursday's game playing its best ball in over a decade. The Cavaliers have won eight of their last nine games and sit in a first place tie atop the MEC standings. The team has received contributions from numerous players during its elongated stretch of good play. Most recently, junior
Allison Ball turned in a season-high 17 points while senior
Makenzie Cluesman registered a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 assists in an 80-64 win over the University of Charleston Saturday. In its first meeting against Shepherd this season, UVa-Wise received a game-high 22 points from
Taylor Sandidge and dominated the battle of the boards 49-28 in an 81-42 win at the Prior Center. The win was highlighted by the strong defensive play of the Cavs as the Rams made just 27.1 percent of their field goal attempts, including a 13.3 percent showing from beyond the arc. Look for balanced scoring to continue to be a key for UVa-Wise,
Kristin Kunzman's team has placed at least three players in double figure scoring for six consecutive contests. Rebounding has also been a strong point for the Cavs, UVa-Wise averages winning the battle of the boards by over 10 rebounds per contest. As a team, UVa-Wise has six players that are averaging at least three rebounds per contest. Shots from beyond the arc have keyed the strong conference record, in league games UVa-Wise ranks second in the league in 3-point shooting percentage at 36.6 percent while leading the conference in 3-point field goal percentage defense at 29.7 percent.
