Women to Battle 'Nova
January 10, 2003 03:41 PM | General
January 10, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team doesn’t have much time to regroup following its first loss of the season to No. 16-ranked Notre Dame Wednesday night.
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| Guard Yolanda Paige matched her season total for assists with nine against Notre Dame Wednesday. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
No. 24 Villanova comes to town Saturday for a noon Big East encounter that will be televised by MSN on WBOY TV 12 in Clarksburg and Charter Communications’ Charter Channel 22 on participating cable providers.
Villanova (11-1, 2-0) is riding the crest of a five-game winning streak that includes two in a row to begin conference play. The Wildcats opened Big East play with a 77-53 victory over St. John’s on Jan. 4, and followed that up with a close, 62-60 home win over Virginia Tech.
The Wildcats also count solid non-conference victories over Ohio State and Colorado.
“I anticipate a very difficult basketball game,” said West Virginia coach Mike Carey.
Five-ten senior guard Katie Davis leads Villanova with a scoring average of 17.7 points per game. The North East, Md., resident is shooting 55.6 percent from the field including 45.9 percent from three-point distance.
Trish Juhline, also a 5-foot-10 guard, joins Davis in the backcourt and is averaging 15.9 points per game. Davis scored a season-high 26 points against Virginia Tech on Tuesday, including five straight free throws in the final 43 seconds.
Five-ten Courtney Mix and 6-0 Nicole Druckenmiller are Villanova’s top inside players, averaging 9.2 and 6.1 points respectively.
West Virginia (10-1, 0-1) will be looking for its first win against Villanova since 1998 without the services of sophomore forward Liz Holbrook for an undertimed amount of time. Holbrook suffered a high ankle sprain in the second half of Wednesday’s loss against Notre Dame. She scored 15 points before going down and is averaging 10.8 points per game.
“Losing her was a big blow,” Carey admitted.
Junior Kate Bulger scored 22 points including her 1,000th to lead the Mountaineers. She is averaging a team-best 18.1 points per game. Sophomore Sherell Sowho is averaging 13.7 points and junior forward Michelle Carter 11.4.
West Virginia’s last win against Villanova was a 59-55 decision in Morgantown in 1998. The Wildcats have won eight of 10 meetings since WVU joined the league in 1996.
