Women's Basketball: WVU Travels to FIU Tourney
November 24, 2004 03:43 PM | General
November 24, 2004
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| Bulger |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team departs Thanksgiving Day for Miami to play two games in the Florida International/Herald Thanksgiving Classic.
The Mountaineers will face Wichita State in one game Friday night at 7 pm while host FIU will play Elon in another contest. The two losers will play first on Saturday, Nov. 27, at 5 pm while the winners will play the championship game at 7 pm.
Wichita State (1-2) is coming off its first win of the season on Tuesday night, defeating Texas Southern, 83-64. In that game 5-foot-9 junior guard Nicole Switzer made nine of 13 field goal attempts for a game-high 19 points. Five-eleven freshman forward Nikki Stephens and 6-foot-3 sophomore center Rochelle Busenitz contributed 17 each for the Shockers.
Joining those three in Wichita State’s probable starting lineup are 5-foot-7 freshman point guard Taylor Steven and 6-foot senior forward Aubrey Cameron.
Prior to the Texas Southern win, Wichita State lost games to Houston (69-41) and Charlotte (83-60).
Switzer is the only Shocker player averaging double figures through the first three games of the season with an average of 10.0 points per contest.
Wichita State is shooting just 38.9 percent from the floor including only four of 45 from three-point distance (8.9 percent). Wichita State has also committed 74 turnovers in three games.
That plays into the hands of West Virginia (2-0), which has won both games at home easily against UNC Greensboro and Northwestern with a smothering defense to a combined 37 first-half points.
West Virginia is shooting 57.0 percent from the floor and owns a plus-31 scoring margin on its first two opponents. Sophomore Meg Bulger scored 29 points in the season opener against UNC Greensboro and added 24 against Northwestern on Monday to lead WVU with an average of 26.5 points per game.
Senior Sherell Sowho contributed 24 against Northwestern while junior Yelena Leuchanka had 17 points and six boards against the Wildcats.
Five-six senior point guard Yolanda Paige recently went over the 1,000-point mark for her career, but more importantly set a school record with 18 assists against Northwestern and shows 32 assists in her first two games.
Freshman Chakhia Cole joins those four in West Virginia’s starting lineup.
In the other game, 1-1 Florida International plays host to 0-1 Elon.
FIU opened the season with a 61-44 win over Bucknell before losing to South Florida 55-43 last Saturday. Elon is off to an 0-1 start after losing 86-40 to No. 9-ranked North Carolina on Monday, Nov. 22.
Elon has four West Virginia natives on its roster in 5-foot-4 guard Jessica Williams of Delbarton, 5-foot-8 freshman guard Sarah Goldfarb of Charleston, 5-foot-6 guard Aisha Ibrahim of Evans, and 6-foot junior forward Samantha McComas of Huntington.
MSN will carry both games on WAJR-AM in Morgantown, WAJR-FM in Clarksburg, WSWW-AM in Charleston, WHIS-AM in Bluefield and on the Internet at Yahoo! Sports.
