Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va.  – The West Virginia University women's basketball team opened the 2018 Postseason WNIT with an 83-50 win over visiting Bucknell on Thursday night at the WVU Coliseum.
 
The Mountaineers (22-11) nearly went wire-to-wire in the first round of the postseason tournament and led by as many as 39. Four players finished in double figures in the win, including senior forward Teana Muldrow, who led WVU with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds.
 
"I thought we looked a little slow, but we did enough to win," WVU coach Mike Carey said. "It was good to play everybody and get everybody some time. We've been off a long time here, so that was good."
 
Muldrow, who became the Mountaineers' all-time leader in games played with 139 on Thursday, opened the contest with three baskets, helping WVU take an early 10-5 lead. From there, junior guard Katrina Pardee swished a 3-pointer as part of an 11-0 run to put the Mountaineers in front 13-5.
 
Bucknell (22-10) turned the ball over five times in the first five minutes of the game and finished with 10 in the opening period. Freshman guard Destiny Harden converted a steal-and-score with 1:55 to go in the first, before redshirt junior forward Theresa Ekhelar's put-back off a missed shot gave WVU a 13-point advantage.
 
WVU led, 22-12, after 10 minutes.
 
The Mountaineers went on to score 13 of the first 17 points in the second quarter. Senior forward Kristina King tallied seven second-quarter points to help extend WVU's cushion. With less than a minute to play until halftime, senior guard Chania Ray drained a 3-pointer from the corner to send West Virginia into the locker room with a 40-24 lead.
 
In the second half, Muldrow wasted little time getting involved, hitting a 3-pointer just seconds into the third quarter to push the lead to 19. WVU went on to outscore the Bison, 21-12, in the frame as Pardee added another 3-pointer and Harden made a pair of layups.
 
The Mountaineers, who shot 50 percent from the field as a team in the victory, led 61-36, heading to the fourth.
 
That's when it was junior guard/forward Naomi Davenport's turn to take control. Davenport made back-to-back 3s, which was followed up by another triple by Ray, to propel WVU to a 72-39 lead as it neared the finish line.
 
Along with Muldrow, King finished with 13 points, while Ray tallied 12 points, six assists and four rebounds. Pardee chipped in with 11 points for the Mountaineers.
 
Bucknell was led by Kaitlyn Slagus' 15 points.
 
The Mountaineers shot 35-of-70 (50%) from the field in the win, swishing 9-of-16 3-point attempts. WVU was outrebounded, 36-35, but held Bucknell to just 19-of-54 (35%) shooting. West Virginia also collected 19 steals and scored 26 points off 23 Bison turnovers.
 
With the win, the Mountaineers move on to the second round of the tournament and are set to host Saint Joseph's on Sunday at the WVU Coliseum. Tip time for the contest is TBA.