WHEELING, West Virginia – The Lake Erie Storm went on the road to take on the Wheeling University Cardinals in a non-conference matchup, on December 19th, 2022. Lake Erie would win their final matchup of 2022 with ease and final score of 79-65. The Storm hand Wheeling their third straight loss of the year and improve to 6-5 on the season and 2-3 in the GMAC. 

The Storm continued their impressive shooting stint going 30-55 from the field for a 54.5% shooting percentage. They added 6 of 16 from the three point line finishing the game at 37.5%. Lake Erie concluded the game shooting a solid 13 of 17 from the foul line. Lake Erie complemented their impressive shooting with great defense. The Storm held the Cardinals to below 20 points in three of the four quarters and held the Cardinals to just ten first quarter points. The lockdown defense by the Storm would hold the Cardinals to a 32.4 field goal percentage and 24% from three-point range. 

Lake Erie was led by the tandem of senior forward Abby Matalavage and senior guard Sydney Wyngarden. Matalavage would end the contest having a career night. Breaking her previous career high of 29 from just a few games ago, Matalavage dropped a new career high in points with 31 points. She went an efficient 11-18 from the field with four three pointers and would fill the stat line with eight rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal all in 35 minutes of action. Wyngarden added in 18 points, five rebounds, two blocks, and one assist. Senior guard Angela Fink was all over the court tonight contributing ten rebounds, eight points, six assists, two steals, and two blocks in a team high 37 minutes. Sophomore guard Anna Ibos played a solid 23 minutes off the bench adding in eight points, three rebounds, one block, and one assist. Ibos also ended the third quarter with a buzzer beater 3-pointer. 

The Storm will take a short break from competitions before returning to conference play in 2023. The first scheduled game of the new year is against Trevecca Nazarene on the road, January 5th at 6:30 PM.