Storylines – vs Shepherd
Losers of three in a row and four of its last five games, Shepherd has fallen to seventh place in the league standings. The Rams have been outscored by 18 points per game during their three game losing streak, which includes an 80-74 setback to Concord University Thursday. Guards Kayla Tibbs and Kari Lankford lead the way for Jenna Eckleberry's squad. Tibbs is scoring 17 points per game while shooting a league leading 45.8 percent from the 3-point line while Lankford leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.5. Lankford's eight assists a night are tops in the MEC and ranks the senior third nationally among all NCAA Division II players. Lankford missed her team's 64-53 win in Wise earlier this season but, sophomore Marly McLaughlin scored a game-high 22 points in her absence as Shepherd limited UVa-Wise to just four points in the fourth quarter to score the road victory. The game will be a homecoming for UVa-Wise assistant coach Molly Land who played for Shepherd from 2005-2008 and head coach Jamie Cluesman who served as an assistant at Shepherd for the past four seasons.
About UVa-Wise
The beat goes on for the Cavaliers. UVa-Wise has won back-to-back games and has clinched a berth in the MEC Tournament despite being picked last in the Preseason Coaches' Poll. Most recently, redshirt sophomore Kalee Johnson poured in a career-high 22 points while Cynita Webb tallied her 14th double-double of the season in a 79-72 win at Fairmont State Thursday. Sophomores Hanna Oliver and Ada Stanley also had big games. Oliver tossed in 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting while Stanley reached double figure scoring for the fourth consecutive game by netting 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. As a team, Jamie Cluesman's team made 54.2 percent of its shots at Fairmont State. The number is the highest of the season for the Cavaliers in a league game while the perfect 9-for-9 showing at the free throw line marked the first time this season the team did not miss a foul shot. Now in a fifth place tie in the league standings, a win over Shepherd would give Jamie Cluesman's team a two game lead for the final bye in the conference tournament with just four games to play.