SALEM, West Virginia - Fresh off the recuperation of the holiday break, the Salem women's basketball team was ready to hit the floor for a home contest on Thursday afternoon with the Wheeling Cardinals. Salem had their hands full with a tough opponent in the Cardinals, but were able to pull out a hard fought 59-54 victory. 

In the first, neither team could really wrestle true control of the game as each team traded initial blows. Salem found their early points from the hot hand of Emerson Wells from the outside. Despite Wells' strong outside shooting for the Tigers, Wheeling still held the game at 20-16 after the first period. 

In the second, Salem made some big strides offensively as they began to pry the game away from the Cardinals. Nerea Arambarri Fernandez from the outside and Liliani Krause on the interior formed up for a powerful one-two punch for the Tigers, and Salem earned a tight 39-30 lead going into the half. 

In the third, Wheeling showed that they were not about to go away quietly. The Cardinals surged back and kept the game close, but the Tigers were up for the challenge. Some key scoring plays from Elena Pericic and Anete Bluma maintained the Salem control of the game, and the scoreboard read 48-39 after three. 

For the final quarter, Salem had the tough task of holding off the desperate Wheeling advance for the final period. Wheeling brought the game level in the waning minutes of the game. However, a Jayla Atkins layup would keep Salem ahead. That play then set up Nerea Arambarri Fernandez to hit some key free throws down the stretch. Therefore, Salem held onto a tough 59-54 win over Wheeling. It was actually Salem's first win over Wheeling in program history as the teams' first matched up back in 2003 when both schools played in the now defunct West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. It had been 20 straight wins for the Cardinals until this afternoon. 

On the stats sheet, Salem was led by Nerea Arambarri Fernandez with 20 points. Emerson Wells was just behind her with 15 points. Liliani Krause tallied a double double with an impressive 13 rebounds and 10 points on the interior. 

With this historic win under their belt, Salem will be looking to build on it this weekend as they are set for a New Year's Eve matchup with another Mountain East Conference opponent in Frostburg State at 2 PM at T. Edward Davis Gymnasium in Salem.