WISE – After seeing Emory & Henry rally from ten points down to tie the game with less than 30 seconds left, UVA Wise freshman Ella Karst refused to lose as she not only hit a floater from the left side with 1.7 seconds remaining but also blocked a last-gasp three-pointer by the Wasps as UVA Wise held on for the 82-80 South Atlantic Conference win Wednesday evening on the Quillen Court.

The win completes the season sweep of UVA Wise's local archrival and also halts a four game non-winning streak by the Cavs.

Karst's buzzer-beating shot is getting a lot of play on social media and has already been featured on the D2 Buzzer Beaters feed on X.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Result: UVA Wise 82, Emory & Henry 80
Records: UVA Wise (9-11, 6-10 SAC); Emory & Henry (6-16, 1-15 SAC)
Location: Wise, VA | The Quillen Court in the David J. Prior Convocation Center

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Cavs took the lead on a three-pointer by Makenzie Bremer, but the Wasps seized the lead midway through the first quarter and the latter stages of the period saw seven lead changes as the teams traded baskets down the stretch, with E&H holding the 18-14 advantage at the end of the quarter.
- The Wasps extended their lead to seven with a little over seven minutes left in the half. The Cavs attempted to chip away at the lead and cut it to two with 2:52 remaining on a Bremer basket, but Emory & Henry would maintain a 33-29 lead at the half.
- The Cavs made a run in the third and tied the game at 35-35 on a basket by Ella Karst. After swapping leads over the next few minutes, E&H's Gracyn Hall hit a three-pointer to put the Wasps ahead by four with 5:34 remaining. Fourteen seconds later Karst hit a basket that sparked a 12-2 Cavalier run. Emory and Henry battled back and cut the lead to one before UVA Wise hit a pair of free throws to put the lead at 55-52 heading into the final stanza.
- Back to back three-pointers by Karst and Emilea Preece gave the Cavs a nine point cushion to open the fourth quarter. E&H cut the lead to four before another UVA Wise run extended their lead to 77-65 with 2:19 left in the game. The Wasps then started getting hot offensively and went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 77-73 with less than a minute left. They later cut it to two with 79-77 with 34 seconds remaining. E&H was then forced to foul and Alissa Cheek hit one of two free throws to make the lead three with 32 seconds left. E&H called timeout to advance the ball, and on the ensuing play they found Hall on the right perimeter and she buried the three-pointer, tying the game at 80-80 with less than 29 seconds left. UVA Wise then called timeout and inbounded the ball to Karst, who dribbled to the top of the key and held the ball until the seven second mark. She then drove left and used a screen from Preece to drive to the baseline, where she hit a fadeaway floating hook shot with two defenders in her face to give the Cavs the lead. After a timeout, the ball was inbounded to Trantham who attempted a game-winning three-pointer with less than a second left, but Karst deflected the shot and UVA Wise held on for the 82-80 win.
- The Wasps had three players in double figures, led by Breanna Yarber's 26 points, five rebounds and five blocks, including an 8-8 performance at the free throw line. Gracyn Hall had a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds and was 6-9 from beyond the arc. Mimi Traynham added in ten points.

GETTING WISE
- Ella Karst led the team in scoring with 18 points as she went 7-16 from the field, 2-5 from three-point range, and a perfect 2-2 from the charity stripe. She also had four rebounds and three assists.
- Caroline Mullins tied her career high for scoring and had her first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. She was also a perfect 3-3 from behind the arc and also dished out three assists.
- Emilea Preece had 15 points, and Makenzie Bremer added in ten points and seven rebounds.
- The Cavs went 14-29 from three point range. It was the first time since they hosted Mars Hill on Jan. 3, 2024 they have hit that many treys in a game. The 14 made threes in these two games are the most in the Jamie Cluesman era and tie with two other occasions for the most in the program's Division II era.
- The team out-rebounded E&H 44-40 for the game.

UP NEXT
The team has the weekend off and will next take the court on Feb. 5, when they travel down the Powell Valley to face Lincoln Memorial in Harrogate, Tennessee. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. in the Tex Turner Arena.
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