Under the direction of second-year Head Coach Vicky Bullett has her West Virginia Wesleyan team off to a 3-1 start in league. The Bobcats are led by Tyra Hughes who is shooting 50 percent from the floor in the early going. The 5-foot-6 junior guard is averaging 16.0 points per game while adding 4.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds a night to her stat line. Hughes has also been deadly from the free throw line where she is shooting 94.4 percent on the year. The guard was at her best in her team's 79-75 win over Fairmont State when she scored 22 points, dished out seven assists and tallied a season-high four steals. While Hughes has been the force on the outside, senior Mari Stewart has been Wesleyan's go to player inside. Stewart is averaging 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest while having yet to miss a free throw this season. As a team, the Bobcats are shooting a league-best 81.9 percent from the free throw line. The number ranks top 15 nationally as Wesleyan boosted the number with a 28-for-32 showing at the charity stripe in its 76-69 win over Shepherd University.

Scoring continues to be an issue for UVa-Wise. The Cavaliers have scored just 46 points in their last five quarters of play, including 41 in the team's most recent loss to the University of Charleston. In the loss, UVa-Wise shot just 23.1 percent from the field and 8.3 percent from the 3-point line. The poor shooting was made even more frustrating by the team's ability to rebound the basketball. The Cavs picked up 21 offensive rebounds in the game which led to 65 field goal attempts; by contrast, the Golden Eagles attempted just 49 shots in the game as UVa-Wise grabbed 11 more offensive rebounds.  Rebounding has been a strength for Elise Clyburn's team all season. Entering play Wednesday, UVa-Wise is winning the battle of the boards by 2.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore Cynita Webb leads the team and ranks fourth in the Mountain East Conference at 10.1 reobunds per game.  The strong rebounding effort has also spurred the Cavs' defensive effort. Opponents are scoring 70.4 points per game against UVa-Wise while shooting just 39.6 percent from the floor. The scoring defense ranks second in the league while the field goal percentage defense is third in the conference. Junior point guard Adalmaryz Rivera - Gomez had one of the stronger offensive games of her career against Charleston when she and Webb led the team in scoring with 10 points each. Junior Alle Moore added a game-high 11 rebounds in the loss. UVa-Wise has never lost to West Virginia Wesleyan in women's basketball, the Cavs are 8-0 all-time against the Bobcats and won two meetings last year by an average margin of 13.5 points.