Women's Basketball: St. John's Preview
January 12, 2004 03:25 PM | General
January 12, 2004
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| Sowho |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia completes its two-game Northeast swing Tuesday night at St. John’s in an important Big East matchup.
The Mountaineers (9-5) dropped a 57-50 decision at Seton Hall Saturday afternoon to fall to 1-2 in league play. Yolanda Paige scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Kate Bulger contributed 10 points for the Mountaineers, which lost their 12th straight conference road game spanning more than two seasons.
West Virginia’s last Big East road win came at St. John’s on Feb. 2, 2002 – a 69-47 decision. However, St. John’s is a dramatically different team this year.
Second-year coach Kim Barnes Arico’s team has already produced seven victories this season – just one win shy of last year’s total of eight wins.
In its most recent game at Syracuse last Saturday, St. John’s surprised the Orangewomen 78-61. Senior guard Kim Mac Millan made 6 of 8 three-point attempts and finished the game with 25 points. Mac Millan ranks second in the country in three-point field goals made with an average of 3.9 per game.
Five-six point guard Secret Stubblefield, an Okaloosa-Walton Community College transfer, contributed 21 points and handed out 5 assists in the Syracuse win.
Mac Millan and Stubblefield are both averaging better than 15 points per game, and are joined in double figures by 6-foot-1 freshman forward Angie Clark, who averages 13.8 points per game. Clark is also pulling down a team best 10.4 rebounds per contest.
Expected to join those three in the starting lineup Tuesday are 5-foot-7 guard Shemika Stevens and 6-foot-4 senior center Katalin Kurtosi. Stevens is averaging 8.9 points and 4.3 assists per game while Kurtosi is averaging 6.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
St. John’s shows wins this year against Holy Cross, Howard, Fairfield, Buffalo, Dayton, Cornell and Syracuse and losses to Binghamton, Rhode Island, Delaware, St. Peter’s, Ohio State and Miami.
Bulger continues to lead West Virginia in scoring with an average of 15.3 points per game. Junior guard Sherell Sowho averages 14.3 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while junior point guard Yolanda Paige averages 12.3 points and a league-best 7.3 assists per game.
Senior center Michelle Carter and senior forward Janell Dunlap are expected to start up front for the Mountaineers. Carter averages 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while Dunlap averages 6.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Freshman Meg Bulger is WVU’s top player coming off the bench averaging 6.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Bulger scored 13 points in a recent loss to Connecticut.
West Virginia has an 8-3 all-time record against St. John’s and has won two straight; St. John’s last defeated West Virginia, 66-41 in Jamaica, N.Y., during the 2000-01 season.
Tuesday night’s game will tip off at 7 pm and will be carried live on the Internet through Yahoo! Sports.
