WHEELING, W. Va. – Sylvia Hudson scored 24 points and Tyra James logged her fourth straight double-double as Urbana University women’s basketball held on for a 72-66 victory over Wheeling University on Tuesday.

UU improves to 5-2 on the year, marking the program’s best start through seven games since the inaugural year of the MEC in 2013-14.

Hudson moved to within two points of taking over sixth place on UU’s all-time scoring chart, finishing the game 10 of 17 from the field. She added nine boards and five steals.

James battled a tough shooting night (6 of 20) as the Cardinals often triple-teamed her, but still managed 16 points and 11 boards. She’s averaging 25.5 points and 12.8 rebounds in the past four games.

Bailey Draughn added 13 points and Sa’Dera Johnson chipped in with eight points. Weston Minnich grabbed eight boards with two points.

After a slow start, the Blue Knights led the entire way after Wheeling initially jumped out to a 4-0 lead. UU led by as much as eight in the second quarter and went into halftime up 37-30 with 14 points from Hudson and 11 from Draughn.

UU shot just 37 percent overall and made 1 of 11 from three-point range, but limited the host Wheeling squad to 33 percent from the field. The defensive effort helped the Blue Knights overcome a 51-41 deficit in rebounding.

UU hosts Concord (4-2, 2-0 MEC) on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 5:30 p.m.