FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Women's Basketball Team fell to the Wheeling Cardinals by a score of 68-59 on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals started the game winning the jump ball and scoring the first layup, to which freshman Jenna Muha answered back with an easy layup of her own 2-2. FSU took their first lead of the game after Muha hit a jump shot at 8-6, then the Bobcats went up by three as graduate student Maggie Sharp sunk a free throw. Junior Harley Herndon kept the lead for FSU with a reverse layup, but WU quickly tied the game 13 apiece with two minutes left in the quarter. A short 30 seconds later, the game was tied again 15-15 after the sides traded baskets. Wheeling hit a three with a minute left, but freshman Mandy Roman responded with a jumper in the paint to end the first quarter with Frostburg trailing 18-17.

Once again WU was first on the scoreboard to start the second, leading 20-17. FSU was able to get the score within two as Sharp and freshman Alanna Tate combined for three points with two minutes gone. The Cardinals began to take control from that moment, starting with Kenzie Dalton earning a three-point play that was the start of a 10-point run. WU took their biggest lead of the game with five minutes left in the half, as Graci Fairman hit a long three and a layup to get up twelve 32-20. Sophomore Emilee Weakley stopped the drought with a right-handed layup through Wheeling's defense. Another Cardinal triple was followed by an and-one, with Shamia Strayhorn then making a layup for a 40-23 lead with two minutes left. A late FSU free throw took the teams into halftime with the visitors leading 40-24. 

Weakley was fired up into the third, scoring a coast-to-coast layup, then assisted senior MacKenzie Freeze for a three that cut the lead to 40-29. WU hit back through Fairman, hitting back-to-back jumpers to regain a 15-point advantage. In ending a scoreless minute and a half, junior Jasmine Johnson knocked down a free throw with under six minutes to play, then Weakley responded to a Wheeling jumper with a lay-in to bring the game to 46-32. The Cardinals forced a pair of turnovers and made three straight buckets, growing their largest lead to 20 points at 52-32. Weakley converted an old-fashioned three-point play, then Roman added three late points to take the score to 54-39 for the final 10 minutes.

After Wheeling scored the first points of the fourth, graduate Ciara Thomas and freshman Grace Middleton hit back-to-back baskets to bring the deficit to 13. WU immediately answered with a three, as Weakly went two-for-two from the free-throw line for a 59-45 score. Middleton got another bucket in the paint, followed by Muha being found by Roman for a 12-point game. The Cardinals simply wouldn't let FSU get close, getting another and-one to go with two freebies and a 17-point advantage. In the final two minutes, Muha scored seven Bobcat points in a row, while freshman Riley Nelson went perfect at the line for her first collegiate points, as Wheeling would win by a final of 68-59.

Weakley recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, whlie Muha also put-up double-digits with 13, also adding a game-high three steals. Middleton and Roman had six points apiece, with the latter also dishing out a team-high three assists.

With the conclusion of the game, the Bobcats fall to an overall record of 7-7 and a conference record of 5-3, while the Cardinals move to an overall record of 11-3 and a conference record of 6-1. FSU is back in action on Wednesday, January 17 as they take on Notre Dame (Ohio) in Bobcat Arena at 5:50 pm. For more information visit frostburgsports.com.