WHEELING — Emily Holzopfel is one of the most decorated scorers in area girls basketball history.

She scored more than 2,000 career points during her brilliant career at Buckeye Local.

Now, she appears to be settling in quite well at her new home, too.

Holzopfel has worked her way into the starting lineup at Wheeling University and is coming off her biggest game to date last week.

As Holzopfel has adjusted to the differences between the high school and NCAA Division II levels, her minutes have climbed and so has her production.

In a loss at Gannon, earlier this week, Holzopfel played a career-high 38 minutes. She scored a career-high 20 points and continues to be a force on the boards, yanking down eight rebounds.

For the season, Holzopfel is scoring 4.9 points and posting 4.2 rebounds a game.

Wheeling is now off until Jan. 8 when it plays at Glenville.

FOOTBALL

JOSH SILLS, West Virginia — The Meadowbrook grad placed his name into the transfer portal earlier this week. He’s already earned his degree, so he can transfer and play immediately. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

ELIJAH BELL, North Carolina A&T — The Wheeling Park grad wraps up his collegiate career Saturday in yet another Celebration Bowl against Alcorn State. The game will kickoff at noon and be broadcast nationally on ABC.

MANDELLA LAWRENCE-BURKE, Kent — Steubenville grad puts the finishing touches on his season tonight in the Frisco Bowl. The Golden Flashes will take on Utah State. The game will kickoff at 7:30 and be carried on ESPN2.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

CAITLYN KROLL, Ohio — Bridgeport grad made her first start of the season in a tough loss at TCU, scoring six points. On Wednesday, the Bobcats played at the University of Texas and finished with two points.

JENSEN CARETTI, Ohio State — River graduate continues to sit out for the Buckeyes. She did not make their west-coast trip earlier this week, which included a loss at No. 1 ranked Stanford.

LILLY RITZ, Wheeling — Cambridge product scored 20 points in a loss to Charleston last Saturday and came back with a 12 point and 8 rebound effort in a loss to Gannon.

MORGAN BRUNNER, West Liberty — Linsly School grad scored 11 points during Wednesday’s Hilltopper loss to Walsh in a game that was played at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, which is the home to the Cleveland Cavaliers. She scored 19 points in a loss to West Virginia State, but struggled to a tune of 5-of-20 shooting from 3-point range.

MONICA BRAGG, West Liberty — Madonna product scored a point in the loss to West Virginia State.

KELSI CHAPMAN, Wheeling — Played 16 minutes against Charleston, but didn’t enter the game at Gannon.

VIVIAN ALLISON, Mercyhurst — Linsly School graduate started and scored five points in a loss to Hillsdale.

TAYLOR DUPLAGA, Fairmont State — Wheeling Central played 20 minutes, scored nine points and passed out five assists in win against Glenville. She scored three points in a win over Wayne State earlier this week.

LAUREN FLANNERY, Lake Erie — Freshman from River scored 16 points in a win over Alderson Broaddus. She was a solid 5-of-7 shooting from the field.

ANNA DEFILIPPO, Cedarville — St. Clairsville graduate had two rebounds in a loss to Kentucky Wesleyan last weekend. She scored three points in a win over Trevecca in Nashville earlier this week.

ALLI DELANEY, Waynesburg — Union Local product scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in a loss to Westminster.

KALLEE DOWLER, Westminster (Mo) — Barnesville grad scored 10 points in a win last Saturday. She also had three assists and three steals.

RILEIGH SIMPSON, Muskingum — Freshman from St. Clairsville played 27 minutes off the bench, scoring two points and grabbing three rebounds in a loss to Wittenberg. The Muskies, who are now 2-6 on the season make a big jump up in competition today when they play at Division I Youngstown State.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

CHASE HARLER, West Virginia — Wheeling Central grad started, played 20 minutes and scored three points in a win over Nichols State. The Mountaineers play at Youngstown State on Saturday.

LOGAN ROUTT, West Virginia — Cameron product played sparingly off the bench in the win over Nichols State.

PRESTON BOSWELL, West Liberty — Magnolia grad scored 17 points, blocked two shots and pulled down three rebounds in a win over West Virginia State last weekend.

PHIL BLEDSOE, Glenville — Wheeling Park product had another huge game, scoring 31 points and yanking down 11 rebounds in a victory against Fairmont State.

LUKAS ISALY, Marietta — Sophomore from River had a strong two games in an event in Lexington. He scored 15 points in a route of Transylvania and then scored 13 points, grabbed four rebounds and handed out three assists in a win over Albion.

TRENTON TIPTON, Wooster — Senior from Union Local was a solid contributor in two wins during a holiday event last weekend. He scored six points in the semifinal and then in the title game against Brockport, he scored 15 points, pulled down six boards and had two assists.

WRESTLING

TARIQ WILSON, N.C. State — Steubenville product and former All-American picked up a 6-2 victory in a dual match against Appalachian State.

NOTE

Because of the holidays and such light cards of action for the schools and athletes we cover in this, the college sports column will return on Friday, Jan. 10.

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com or at twitter.com/TLSportsSeth