WISE – The UVA Wise women's basketball team rolled out to an eighteen point lead and held off a determined comeback effort by Lenoir-Rhyne to take the 84-79 South Atlantic Conference win over the Bears.
The win avenges a 77-75 loss earlier this season in Hickory, North Carolina, in which the Bears hit a layup with five seconds left to take the lead, and a game-tying shot at the buzzer by
Ella Karst didn't go in. Tonight, Karst had the last laugh with a near career high in scoring.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Result: UVA Wise 84, Lenoir-Rhyne 79
Records: UVA Wise (8-7, 5-6 SAC); Lenoir-Rhyne (5-10, 3-8 SAC)
Location: Wise, VA | The Quillen Court in the David J. Prior Convocation Center
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Bears took the early lead, going ahead by as many as eight points before UVA Wise went on a 9-0 run over the remainder of the first quarter and start of the second quarter, grabbing the 17-15 lead on a three-pointer by
Alissa Cheek. The Bears tied it up at 17-17, but a basket soon afterwards by
Katlin Burger sparked a 10-0 Cavalier run. A pair of Cheek free throws with less than a minute remaining gave UVA Wise the 37-23 lead and they would hold a 13 point advantage at the half.
- The lead never got below ten points throughout the third quarter, with a basket by Burger putting UVA Wise ahead 57-39 with 1:30 left in the period. The Bears cut the lead to fourteen before
Ella Karst scored at the buzzer on a leaping offensive rebound and putback in the same move to make the score 59-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
- The lead hovered around the 15 point mark until the Bears took advantage of their press to chip away at the lead over the last 3:38. They cut the lead to seven before a pull-up jumper and the free throw by
Sable Burnside put the lead back to double digits. The Bears would cut the lead to three points twice in the last minute, but each time the Cavs hit key free throws to seal the 84-79 victory.
GETTING WISE
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Ella Karst led UVA Wise with 25 points, two shy of tying her career high. She shot 6-13 from the field, 3-5 from behind the arc, and an impressive 10-11 from the free throw line. She also had a team-high six rebounds.
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Katlin Burger scored 20 points as she went 8-12 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line. She also led all players with five assists. The senior passed the 1,100 point career scoring mark in the game.
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Sable Burnside added in 16 points.
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Macie Ridge pulled down five rebounds and had four assists while
Jalie Ruehling also had four assists.
- As a team, UVA Wise out-shot the Bears 48.2%-42.9% from the field, hit 40.0% from three-point range, and 80% from the free throw line.
UP NEXT
The Cavaliers have another chance for revenge as they make the trip to #22/16 Carson-Newman for a Wednesday SAC matchup with the Eagles. C-N won the previous meeting in the Prior Center on December 4 when they surged ahead late to take the 94-87 win. They are currently 12-4 overall and 9-3 in the SAC after falling to LMU in Holt Fieldhouse 71-67 and defeating Newberry 79-59 last week.
