WISE – Despite the senior day festivities, it was junior guard Sable Burnside and redshirt freshman guard Sarah Burton who powered the Cavs to an 89-70 victory in their rematch with Limestone.
UVA Wise (11-12, 7-8 SAC) outscored the Limestone Saints (9-13, 3-11 SAC) 63-47 in the final three quarters of the game to pull away with its seventh South Atlantic Conference win of the season.
The pregame festivities saw the Cavalier faithful honor fifth year players Leah Kestner and Caitlyn Ross as the graduating seniors from the program.
The two college roommates have been together since their freshman seasons and are pillars of the Cavalier program both on and off the floor.
Against Limestone, Ross finished the night with 10 points, six rebounds and eight assists despite only playing 23 minutes after being sidelined with foul trouble. Her eight assists elevate her to just 27 assists shy of the all-time SAC record of 819.
Kestner also struggled with foul trouble in the game but managed to contribute six rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win.
The night was headlined by Burton and Burnside who combined for career highs in points to torch the Saints' defense.
Burton recorded a career best 24 points behind electric shooting from downtown as she made five threes, also a career high.
Burnside seemingly couldn't miss, tying her career high mark with 28 points after going 12-for-20 from the floor.
Combined the two guards held a stat line of: 52 points, 20-of-37 (54 percent) shooting from the floor and 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) shooting from deep land.
Head coach Jamie Cluesman gave credit to the collective team effort on offense that contributed to the big night for the duo. As a unit, the Cavs recorded 28 assists on 32 made field goals, the most in a game this season and the most since Nov. 16, 2022.
With the senior day celebration under way, some Cavalier players dazzled the crowd giving hope for a bright future.
Freshman guard Macie Ridge five points, three rebounds and recorded career highs with three steals and assists each. Three of her five points came on a confident pull-up triple in the second half that drew "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd.
Fellow freshman guard Jalie Ruehling may have solidified herself as one of the team's best rebounders for the future.
Despite being the shortest player on the Cavalier roster standing at 5-foot-5, Ruehling snatched 11 boards against Limestone. Her career high of 14 rebounds also came against the Saints when the two teams met in December.
With the win, the Cavs sit alone in eighth place of the South Atlantic Conference standings. They are one game up on Mars Hill and a half-game back of Coker. The top eight teams in the SAC standings will be invited to the postseason conference tournament.
Next for UVA Wise is a home date with Lincoln Memorial and another chance for revenge against the Railsplitters. Tip-off is set for Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. from the David J. Prior Convocation Center.
