Women's Basketball: WVU Takes on Seton Hall
January 14, 2005 02:15 PM | General
January 14, 2005
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia and Seton Hall will lock up for the second time in nine days Saturday afternoon when the Mountaineers play host to the Pirates in a 2 pm Big East women’s basketball tilt.
Seton Hall (10-5, 2-2) claimed the first meeting in South Orange, N.J., 66-55 behind 21 points from sophomore forward Monique Blake. West Virginia jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead but struggled offensively, scoring just 26 first-half points.
Meg Bulger led WVU with 16 points but made just six of 19 field goal attempts. Yolanda Paige added 10 points and six assists.
Following the West Virginia victory, Seton Hall dropped a 60-51 decision at St. John’s last Wednesday. Blake leads the Pirates with averages of 12.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Five-foot-ten guard Ashley Bush is the only other Seton Hall player averaging double figures at 11.8 points per game.
West Virginia (10-4, 1-2), meanwhile, has hit a wall ever since 6-foot-5 junior center Yelena Leuchanka was lost for the season due to a knee injury suffered in practice. West Virginia began the season 9-0 but is just 1-4 since having lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Boston College, Seton Hall and most recently Marshall.
West Virginia has had a tough time finding its shooting stroke, making 119 of its last 285 shot attempts for 41.7 percent while also being out-rebounded by an average of 4.2 boards in its last five games.
Compounding problems has been the absence of 6-foot-2 freshman center Olayinka Sanni, sidelined with a sprained ankle suffered in the Providence win. That has left the Mountaineers with just two available post players in 6-foot-2 senior Ramika McGee and 6-foot-2 junior Jeriece Lee.
Five-foot-10 freshman Chakhia Cole has picked up some of the rebounding slack averaging a team best 6.0 rebounds per game while Bulger has been WVU’s primary scoring threat. The Pittsburgh native is coming off a career-high 36 points in the Marshall loss and is averaging 20.6 points per game.
Senior guard Sherell Sowho’s average has dipped to 13.9 points per game after a torrid start, while senior Yolanda Paige is averaging 10.8 points and 9.9 assists per game.
Seton Hall has had its way with West Virginia, winning seven straight since WVU’s last win on the road in 1999.
Saturday’s game will tip off at 2 pm and will be televised by the Mountaineer Sports Network (WVFX, Clarksburg and Charter 22 in Charleston).
