Hoyas Humbled
January 28, 2004 10:10 PM | General
January 28, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s Kate Bulger wasn’t in a very good mood at halftime of Wednesday night’s game against Georgetown.
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| Senior Kate Bulger scored 21 points including 15 in the second half to lead West Virginia to a 70-61 win over Georgetown Wednesday night. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Her coach, Mike Carey, wasn’t the happiest person in the locker room either.
He watched his best player go 2 of 6 from the floor and turn the basketball over six times as Georgetown turned a seven-point deficit into a four-point halftime lead.
“Kate’s a senior and we expect a lot out of her,” said Carey. “She was struggling a little bit because she wasn’t aggressive and wasn’t attacking offensively.”
“He really got into me but it got me fired up and it became contagious among the team in the second half,” said Bulger.
Whatever he said to her, she got the message. Bulger made three critical three-point baskets and scored 15 second-half points to lead West Virginia to a very important 70-61 victory over the Hoyas at the WVU Coliseum.
“Kate is the type of player that even if he wouldn’t have done that she is a big enough player that she can do that to herself mentally,” said Meg Bulger. “I think Coach Carey helped her a little bit, though.”
The victory now lifts West Virginia’s record to 14-5, 5-2 and raises the stakes a little bit higher for the Mountaineers this Saturday at Pittsburgh. Paired with Notre Dame’s 59-50 win over No. 16 Miami tonight, WVU is now in a three-way tie with Miami and Notre Dame for second place in the conference standings as January winds down.
Even Mountaineer coach Mike Carey finds it difficult to believe his team is tied for second in a league considered by some to be the best in the country this year with seven teams with RPIs of 20 or better.
“We felt we were going to have a great season and then all of the sudden two girls go down with ACLs and then the problems we had,” said Carey. “Once we found out that those two young ladies were not going to be with us our players started doing the things they needed to do. We’re playing as well now as a team as any time since I’ve been here.”
That was apparent Wednesday night.
West Virginia was able to beat a long-time nemesis in Georgetown to run its winning streak to five, including four in a row in conference play. The Hoyas had won four out of the last five games against WVU and beat the Mountaineers badly in Washington, D.C., last year.
Tonight the Mountaineers were able to find a way to contain Georgetown center Rebekkah Brunson, particularly in the second half. Brunson scored 12 at halftime and only managed to get 19 for the game.
“I’ve never played anyone as physical as her,” said Meg Bulger, who teamed with Janell Dunlap to hold Brunson to 7 second-half points. “She’s the best post I’ve played against.”
“She’s tough; she’s an All-American period,” said West Virginia’s Sherell Sowho. “We just tried to check her out and make sure she wasn’t getting offensive rebounds and just played solid defense.”
The key point in the game came at the start of the second half when West Virginia forced three straight Georgetown turnovers and turned them into an 11-0 run to take a 41-34 lead. WVU built its advantage to as many as 11 at 48-37 and 50-39 before the Hoyas were able to cut it all the way down to three, 50-47 at 9:10.
Kate Bulger followed with a three-point basket to put West Virginia back up by six, and Meg Bulger nailed a critical three with 3:20 left to put the Mountaineers back up by seven.
“I can’t believe she shot that three, but that is one of those plays where you say, ‘Oh no’ and then ‘great shot.’ Give her a lot of credit, for a freshman to step up and hit a big three like that says a lot about her,” said Carey.
Another three by Kate gave WVU and eight-point advantage with 1:07 left and Yolanda Paige finished off the Hoyas with a free throw and a layup.
Kate Bulger scored a game-high 21 points and Meg Bulger came off the bench to contribute 11. Paige and Sowho chipped in with 10 points each; Paige handed out a game-high 7 assists.
Kate Bulger led WVU with 8 rebounds and helped the Mountaineers out-rebound the much taller Hoyas, 36-34.
“She’s Kate, she’s the Chief … that’s what we call her,” said Meg Bulger. “She could have had 15 turnovers and come out in the second half and done that. Nothing fazes her and that’s really a tribute to the type of player she is.”
The Bulger sisters were able to combine for 32 points and grab 11 rebounds playing in front of their older brother Marc, who was in the stands watching tonight. Marc was in town today before leaving for Hawaii for the Pro Bowl next week. Kate says that’s the first time she’s played well in front of him.
“Every time he comes we do bad, but I guess that changed tonight,” she laughed.
In addition to Brunson’s 19, guard Mary Lisicky scored 14 and Bethany LeSueur added 12.
Georgetown committed 16 turnovers for the game and shot just 38.2 percent, including 29.6 percent in the second half.
The Hoyas drop to 9-9, 3-5 with the loss.
“It’s a big win and we’re getting on a roll now. I think they started out poorly but they’ve been playing very well lately and any win is a good win for us,” said Kate Bulger.
West Virginia looks to keep its winning streak alive with a road game at Pittsburgh on Saturday at 2 pm. That contest will be televised live on the Mountaineer Sports network and will be carried on stations WVFX in Clarksburg, Charter 22 in Charleston and WJAL in Chambersburg, Pa.
