Postseason Hopes
February 25, 2003 02:25 PM | General
February 25, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia has a chance to solidify a spot in the Big East tournament with a victory over Syracuse Wednesday night.
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| West Virginia's Kate Bulger scored a team-high 19 points in Saturday's win over St. John's. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
The Mountaineers, 14-10, 3-10, are coming off a 68-59 win over St. John’s Saturday at the Coliseum. Paired with losses by both Pitt and Providence, West Virginia is tied with Pitt in 11th place in the conference standings.
Although Pitt owns the tiebreaker against West Virginia, the Mountaineers can still claim a spot in the tournament even if it ties Providence. Despite splitting with the Friars, WVU would get the nod because of its win against Miami. Providence has two games remaining against Connecticut and Villanova. Providence would have to pull off a huge upset against either No. 1 UConn or No. 18 Villanova to get back into the tournament picture
To avoid going to tiebreakers, West Virginia can take matters into its own hands Wednesday night against the Orangewomen, 9-15, 4-9.
Syracuse’s four conference victories this year have come against Boston College, Miami, St. John’s and Providence. Three of those wins have come on the road.
Five-eight junior guard Shannon Perry leads Syracuse with averages of 16.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Five-four junior guard Julie McBride follows Perry with an average of 15.8 points per game and she also dishes out a team-best 6.2 assists per game.
Five-eight guard Rochelle Coleman averages 13.3 points per game.
A fourth guard, 5-foot-10 junior April Jean, averages 9.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The Orangewomen’s fifth starter is 6-2 freshman Jill Norton (1.6 ppg., 1.6 rpg.).
West Virginia counters with a reassembled lineup that features guards Yolanda Paige (9.8 ppg., 7.0 apg.), Janell Dunlap (4.3 ppg., 2.7 rpg.) and Kate Bulger (14.7 ppg., 4.1 rpg.) and forwards Eartha White (4.1 ppg., 4.2 rpg.) and Michelle Carter (10.6 ppg., 6.8 rpg.).
Both White and Dunlap are coming off season-high scoring performances against St. John’s. White tallied 15 points and grabbed 8 rebounds while Dunlap scored 13 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Dunlap was replacing starter Sherell Sowho who has been suspended indefinitely for violating team rules.
West Virginia has had its problems in the past against Syracuse, losing seven of 11 all-time meetings including both games last year.
West Virginia’s last win against Syracuse came in 2000 when WVU upset the Orangewomen, 65-63.
In addition to enhancing its postseason chances, West Virginia also has an opportunity to secure its first winning season since going 19-12 in 1997.
Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. and MSNsportsNET.com’s Internet coverage begins at 6:50 p.m.
