CHARLESTON, W.Va. - - For the first time since the formation of the Mountain Conference, UVa-Wise will play in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The No. 3 seed Cavaliers posted a 72-70 win over the No. 6 seed West Virginia State Yellow Jackets inside the Charleston Civic Center Thursday. Senior Kayla Carey scored a game-high 23 points while fellow seniors Taylor Sandidge and Makenzie Cluesman sealed the game by going 3-4 from the free throw line in the closing seconds.
UVa-Wise (21-10) led wire-to-wire but the game was not decided until the final buzzer. Kristin Kunzman's team held a 67-56 lead with under five minutes to play before the Yellow Jackets put up one final push.
West Virginia State (14-15) would get a 3-pointer by Jasmine Davis to make it a 67-59 game with 3:42 to play before a 3-pointer by Rachel Ward cut the deficit to five with 3:22 remaining. Charles Marshall's team would get within three points when Davis connected on a jumper moments later.
Junior Ashley Cullen would stop the Yellow Jackets' run with an elbow jumper only to see the lead cut to two seconds later when Davis made her second 3-pointer in less than 90 seconds to make it a 69-67 game with just over two minutes to play.
Each school would have missed opportunities over the next several possessions as UVa-Wise and West Virginia State each missed a pair of shots.
The last missed opportunity would be a shot clock violation that would give the Yellow Jackets the ball down two with 52 seconds remaining.
West Virginia State would work the ball to senior forward Shealyn Shafer who would draw a foul and go to the line with a chance to tie the contest.
Shafer would make the first foul shot but her attempt to tie the game would rattle out with Carey boarding the miss.
Sandidge would go to the line and make a pair of free throws with 19 seconds to play to run the lead to 71-68 only to see Damonique Patterson hit a jumper just inside the arc to make it a one point game with less than four seconds remaining.
Kunzman would then use her final timeout, allowing the Cavs to advance the ball to the frontcourt. Cluesman would receive the inbounds pass and after missing the first foul shot, made the second to make it a 72-70 game with just over two seconds to play.
West Virginia State would be unable to get off a final shot attempt as the Yellow Jackets were forced to go the length of the floor due to being out of timeouts.
The win marked the fourth consecutive season UVa-Wise has won its first game in the MEC Tournament and earned the program its first semifinal appearance in a league tournament since advancing to the 2010 Appalachian Athletic Conference semifinals.
A strong start by Cluesman allowed the Cavs to build an early lead. The Jonesville, Va. native scored 11 of her 15 points in the quarter as UVa-Wise led 23-13 after the first 10 minutes. The former Lee High School standout added five rebounds and eight assists in the victory.
Junior Allison Ball was also instrumental in the opening moments of the game. The Newport, Tenn. product canned a pair of 3-pointers in the opening period to get the Cavs off to a good start.
While Cluesman and Ball supplied aided Carey in supplying the offensive firepower in the opening quarter it was freshman Kayla Mullins who picked up the load in the second quarter. The Clintwood, Va. native scored six of her nine points in the period while adding a trio of rebounds and an assist in the 10 minutes.
UVa-Wise entered intermission leading 41-33 behind 48.4 percent shooting from the field.
Carey scored 10 points in the first half but the Knoxville, Tenn. native's play proved crucial in the second half.
The 6-foot-1 forward would score seven points in the third quarter to help her team go to the final 10 minutes leading 57-48.
Carey finished the game 10-15 from the field to tie her career-high for field goals in a game.
Mullins finished with nine points to tie a season-high while the eight points by Sandidge give her 1,406 for her career, making her the eighth player in program history to score at least 1,400 points.
Davis led West Virginia State with 22 points while Shea Hines netted 15 in the loss. Shafer was limited to one point as the forward was plagued with foul trouble for the majority of the contest.
With the win, UVa-Wise advances to Saturday's semifinal round where they will face No. 2 seed Wheeling Jesuit University. Tip-off from the Charleston Civic Center is scheduled for 2:15 p.m.
For more information about this year's conference tournament and up-to-the-date results on the event, please visit the official website of the Mountain East Conference – mountaineast.org.
