North Panhandle Times

20+ Points Leads Price/Fairman to Claim Cardinals High Flyers of the Week

As 2023 rolls on, the Wheeling Men's and Women's Basketball teams are back to conference play with the rest of the winter sports set to start up this week. After a pair of tough matchups for both teams this past week, the Wheeling University Athletic Department announced its weekly Cardinals High Flyer of the Week Awards on Tuesday. Women's Basketball's Graci Fairman earned the Female High Flyer of the Week while Men's Basketball player Brent Price took home the Male High Flyer of the Week.

It was a return to MEC play for both teams this week as they began on the road against Glenville State before coming home for a doubleheader against Concord. Both teams went into the hostile environment of the Waco Center and battled. However, neither team came away with a victory and they looked to Saturday to get back on track. The women's basketball team put their offense on display with a season-high 93 points as they took down Concord 93-52. The Men's Basketball team got off to a hot start and followed it up with 41 second half points, but just didn't have enough to overtake the Mountain Lions, falling 81-76 in the final minute of play.

For Fairman, this is her first Cardinals High Flyer of the Week award as she put up a career-best week on the hardwood. Her best showing came against Concord on Saturday, when she scored a career-high 20 points, aiding it with a 7-7 mark from the free throw line. Of her 20 points, 16 of them came in the first half as Fairman helped fuel the team's 41-point first half. In the first game of the week, Fairman set a then career-best with 11 points against the Pioneers while shooting 50% from the floor. Since the Calendar turned to 2023, Fairman has come on strong, averaging 12.7 points per game and has raised her season average to 6.1 points per game heading into Wednesday night's matchup.

Price takes home the other High Flyer of the Week award, winning his first weekly award of the season after starting 2023 strong. After missing the game against Franciscan, Price has come back strong scoring 36 points over two games this week as he leads the Cardinals. Price's biggest effort also came against Concord on Saturday, when he scored 20 points and tied for the team lead in scoring on the day. He added six rebounds on the day and tied for the team lead with three assists while going 6-6 from the free throw line. Price added a 16-point effort in the game against Glenville State on Wednesday as he continues to be a leader for the Cardinals. He is averaging 18.0 points per game to start 2022 and looks for continued success as the year goes on.

It is the second straight week where the two basketball teams took home the weekly award as they continue through their winter schedule. The Wheeling Women's Basketball team picks up their sixth award winner of the season, while the Men's Basketball team now has four. With more winter sports set to start their schedules back up this week, the competition will continue to get fierce as Wheeling looks to shine both in competition and in the classroom.

The next Wheeling University athletic event will be tomorrow night when the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team takes on Fairmont State with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 PM. 

Original source can be found https://wucardinals.com/news/2023/1/10/mens-basketball-20-points-leads-price-fairman-to-claim-cardinals-high-flyers-of-the-week.aspxhere