WISE – The UVA Wise women's basketball team had an early Christmas present for the home crowd Wednesday evening as they held off a determined Mars Hill team to close out the 2024 portion of the season with the 80-75 South Atlantic Conference wire-to-wire win on the Quillen Court.
The win snaps a four game losing streak for UVA Wise, who will play again Friday afternoon in an exhibition game at Radford.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Result: UVA Wise 80, Mars Hill 75
Records: UVA Wise (6-6, 3-5 SAC); Mars Hill (8-5, 5-4 SAC)
Location: Wise, VA | The Quillen Court in the David J. Prior Convocation Center
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Katlin Burger scored the first five points of the game as the Cavs shot out to the 7-0 lead. They slowly pulled ahead, leading by eleven points following a
Caroline Mullins jumper with 5:04 left in the quarter. Mars Hill would make a run and outscore the Cavs 12-4 over the next four minutes and cut the lead to 21-16 at the end of the first period.
- UVA Wise held a 21-18 lead early in the second period, but then both teams went cold for six minutes. The Cavs were able to cobble together a 9-1 run over that span and extended the lead to 16 points via a
Jalie Ruehling three-pointer as the half ended to give the team the 41-25 lead at the intermission.
- The Cavs held the large advantage throughout the third quarter, pulling ahead by as much as 25 before the Lions cut the lead to 63-44 with 17 seconds left.
- The late run by Mars Hill extended into the fourth quarter as a 12-2 run that cut the lead to 14 points with seven minutes left in the game. They slowly chipped away at the remaining lead, cutting the UVA Wise lead to 75-73 with 22 seconds left.
Ella Karst, Emelia Preece and
Alissa Cheek all hit free throws down the stretch to seal the 80-75 victory for the Cavs.
- The loss spoiled a 26-point outing by Aaliyah El, who was also a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. She also led the team with six rebounds along with Lauren Arnold. Tateyoina Harris chipped in 12 points.
GETTING WISE
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Katlin Burger led the Cavs in scoring as she had 21 points off of 9-16 shooting. She also had four rebounds, three assists, and tied her career high with four steals.
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Alissa Cheek chipped in a career high 16 points to go along with four assists.
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Sable Burnside scored 12 points and, along with
Caroline Mullins, led the team with six rebounds.
- The team shot 46.9% from the field while holding the Lions to 40.3%. They also shot 50% from behind the arc and a season-high 92.9% from the free throw line.
UP NEXT
The Highland Cavs will play an exhibition contest Friday afternoon at Radford at 3:30 p.m. It will be part of a doubleheader with Radford's men, who take on Virginia University – Lynchburg at 1:00 p.m. The team returns to regular season play Jan. 4 when they play at Wingate.
