Storylines – vs Fairmont State University
On a two-game winning streak, Fairmont State finds itself back in the thick of the Mountain East Conference race. Steve McDonald's team dispatched Concord 95-69 Thursday to move to 8-5 in league play and just two games out of the lead. Amanda Ruffner has been the catalyst for the Fighting Falcons. The 5-foot-10 senior forward averages 16.7 points per game to rank fourth in the MEC. Teammate Makenzie White is posting 14.9 points per contest to rank eighth in the league in scoring, combined the duo's 31.6 points per game average ranks as the top scoring pair in the league. In its loss in Wise earlier this season, Ruffner and White were held to a combined 17 points as UVa-Wise dominated the glass (38-26) en route to the 62-54 win. Fairmont State shot just 35.8 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from the 3-point line in the loss. The Fighting Falcons are in the midst of playing six out of seven games at home. This season, McDonald's team has posted a 9-2 record inside the Joe Retton Arena.
About UVa-Wise
UVa-Wise will look to bounce back from a stunning 73-66 loss to Shepherd University on Thursday. The loss came less than a month after the Cavaliers beat the rams 81-42 in Wise. Poor foul shooting and turnovers proved to be too much to overcome for
Kristin Kunzman's team as UVa-Wise made just nine of 18 free throw attempts and turned the ball over 19 times. The poor performance at the charity stripe was magnified by Shepherd's superb shooting; the Rams made 18 of their first 19 free throw attempts and finished the game 18-22 from the stripe. Senior
Makenzie Cluesman was the spark plug for the UVa-Wise offense in the loss. The Jonesville, Va. native scored a game-high 21 points on eight of 14 shooting. Sophomore
Ashley Cullen also finished in double figures as her 10 first half points allowed her to reach the double figure scoring mark for the third consecutive contest. Prior to Thursday's game, defense had been a strong point for the Cavs. On the season, opponents are making just 38 percent of their field goal attempts but the Rams finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor. Even more impressive, Shepherd shot 62.5 percent from the field in the fourth quarter. In its first meeting against Fairmont State,
Kayla Carey scored a team-high 20 points while
Makenzie Cluesman posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in a 62-54 win in Wise. Last year in Fairmont, the Fighting Falcons outlasted the Cavs 86-82 in double overtime behind a team-high 19 points from guard Makenzie White.
