Photo by Kim North Wheeling’s Graci Fairman (21) shoots for two of her seven points Thursday afternoon in an MEC quarterfinal tournament game against Charleston inside WesBanco Arena. The Cardinals fell, 69-55.

WHEELING — Rebounding is just one of the aspects of basketball, but it is a huge one.

Third-seeded Charleston enjoyed a 53-23 advantage on the board en route to a 69-55 victory over No. 6 Wheeling Thursday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference women’s quarterfinal tournament game inside WesBanco Arena.

“That’s no secret there,” first-ever Wheeling head coach Ella Skeens said of the rebounding disparity. “We’re not the biggest team so we had to make an effort to get into them and push them away from the basket, but we didn’t do that and they cashed in on some second chances.”

Charleston held a 20-5 advantage in second-chance points even though Wheeling held a 30-28 edge in points scored in the paint.

The Golden Eagles (19-10) led 32-21 at the half but extended the margin to 54-33 after three with a 22-12 third-quarter surge.

The Cardinals (17-12) tried to stage a comeback as they closed the gap to nine, 62-53 on a twisting layup by Fort Frye graduate Kenzie Dalton, but they couldn’t get any closer.

“At tournament time you’ve got to put four quarters together. I thought we finished strong in the third and fourth quarters, but you’ve got to put four (quarters) together, especially against a team like Charleston,” Skeens said.

Dalton led Wheeling with 20 points, while Emilia Sierra Lacosta added 13 and Emma Reynolds had 10. Dalton, the MEC Defensive Player of the Year, also charted five steals, handed out five assists and pulled down eight rebounds.

Paris Stokes led Charleston with 19 points. Jordan Scully added 13. Stokes also grabbed 10 rebounds and charted four assists.

Charleston advances to play No. 7 Frostburg State, which eliminated No. 2 W.Va. Wesleyan in Thursday’s first game. That contest is set for Friday at 2:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES

— There are a dozen former OVAC athletes participating in the MEC Tournament this week, with nine being on the women’s side.

They are Fairmont State’s Haylen Cook (Linsly); Jillian Huffman (West Liberty/Wheeling Park); Maddie Tyson (West Liberty/Barnesville); Reagan Vinskovich (West Liberty/Union Local); Kenzie Clutter (W.Va. Wesleyan/Cameron); Kenzie Dalton (Wheeling/Fort Frye); Brooke Edge (Wheeling/Linsly/Wheeling Central); Ashley Shroades (Wheeling/Southern Local); and Jenna Eckleberry (Frostburg State head coach/Oak Glen).

The three males are Aiden Davis (West Liberty/Steubenville); Caleb Murray (Wheeling/Linsly); and Trevor Beresford (Wheeling/Cameron).