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WHEELING, W.Va. -- Top-seeded Wheeling Jesuit defeated West Virginia Wesleyan, 17-6, and second-seeded Shepherd topped UVa-Wise, 15-9, in the MEC Women's Lacrosse Semifinals on Friday night at Bishop Schmitt Field on the campus of WJU.

WJU and Shepherd will play for the championship on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Biship Schmitt Field.

In the first semifinal, Erin Phelan scored six goals and Haley Price added four more to lead the Rams to victory. Leading by just two at the break, 7-5, Shepherd scored the first two goals in the second half to grab its largest lead of the game. UVa-Wise got back to within three at 12-9 after a Annie Hanson goal with 10:54 left, but the Rams were able to control the ball down the stretch and tacked on more goals to claim the 15-9 win. 

Phelan finished with seven points, while Price had five points for SU. Brooke Hunley had three points on a goal and two assists. Savannah Shores stopped 10 shots in goal for the Rams.

Hanson finished with four points on three goals and an assist to lead UVa-Wise. McKayla Grashamn had two goals and Melanie Reilly had eight saves. 

In the second semifinal, Wheeling Jesuit broke open a close 3-2 game with nine of the game's next 11 goals to take a 12-4 lead into halftime. The pace in the second half slowed significantly as the WJU only outscored the Bobcats, 5-2, in the final 30 minutes. 

Jessie Tufnell led the Cardinal with 10 points on five goals and five assists to go with a team-high four groundballs. Paige Plesich five points (4G, 1A) as did Elizabeth Hales (3G, 2A). Marie Austin had eight saves on the night.

Madison Duvall led WVWC with two goals and one assist, while Natalie Schaffner had a pair of goals. Madison Nock had 13 saves for the Bobcats.