As the Mountain East Conference added an extra day to its basketball tournaments at the Charleston Civic Center, Shepherd women's basketball coach Jenna Eckleberry didn't want that day to be the only one her Rams spent in the bracket.
Behind both its torrid shooting and improved defense in the third period Wednesday afternoon, Shepherd stayed alive in the MEC tournament, beating West Virginia Wesleyan 68-65 to advance to Thursday's quarterfinals. The Rams (15-16) will face second-seeded Wheeling Jesuit at noon Thursday.
Morgan Arden led the Rams with 19 points, while Cara Mason scored 16 points and added seven assists.
Wednesday games are a new component of the MEC men's and women's tournaments. Starting this season, the conference brings the top 10 men's and women's teams to Charleston, with the seventh through 10th seeds playing first-round games.
For two periods, it looked like the seventh-seeded Rams might head home at the hands of the 10th-seeded Bobcats. Shepherd made just nine first-half baskets, recorded 10 turnovers and trailed 37-30. The tide turned for both the Rams and Bobcats (6-20) in the third period, when Shepherd went 10 of 14 from the floor and held Wesleyan to 5-of-17 shooting, erasing the Bobcats' seven-point halftime lead.
"They shoot with confidence when they know we're playing together and getting stops on defense," Eckleberry said. "At the beginning of the third quarter, you saw all five of our players on defense go after that rebound. When our defense picks up, our offense picks up and they just play more in rhythm."
Wesleyan gave Shepherd a scare near the end of the game, when Mason fouled the Bobcats' Stacy Remer on a made 3-point shot. Remer made the ensuing free throw and cut Shepherd's lead to 64-63 with 53 seconds left in the contest, but the Bobcats couldn't get any closer.
Remer scored 17 points with 10 rebounds for Wesleyan, while Tara Goldman led the Bobcats with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.