Women's Basketball: WVU Travels to Seton Hall
January 06, 2005 11:21 AM | General
January 6, 2005
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| McGee |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team is confronting an old Big East nemesis tonight when it takes on the Seton Hall Pirates at Walsh Gymnasium.
The Pirates have claimed six straight over the Mountaineers including a 57-50 victory last year at home.
So far Seton Hall is 8-4 with notable wins over LaSalle, St. Joseph’s, Miami (Ohio) and South Carolina and losses to Ball State, Arizona State, North Carolina State and most recently at Notre Dame on Jan. 2.
In the Notre Dame loss, Seton Hall controlled the backboards pulling down 50 to Notre Dame’s 35 including 20 offensive rebounds. That poses particular trouble for a West Virginia team that has had difficulty rebounding and is now without 6-foot-5 center Yelena Leuchanka for the remainder of the season with a knee injury suffered in last Friday’s practice.
That means 6-foot-2 senior Ramika McGee, who has had two knee surgeries also, slips into the starting lineup in place of Leuchanka and more minutes are in store for 6-foot-2 freshman Olayinka Sanni.
The two have combined for 6.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game but must step up their production now in league play.
Mountaineer senior Yolanda Paige tied Rosemary Kosiorek’s school career record with her 716th assist during last Sunday’s loss to Boston College, but now has to take on more of scoring role for West Virginia.
Paige is average 10.9 points per game and is shooting 43.1 percent from the floor.
Sophomore Meg Bulger leads West Virginia with an average of 19.5 points per game and is shooting 47.2 percent from the floor, but the Pittsburgh native made just seven of 20 field goal attempts in the BC loss and is 14 of 35 in her last two games.
Senior guard Sherell Sowho is West Virginia’s other big gun from the outside, averaging 15.2 points per game and shooting 41.2 percent from three-point distance.
The Mountaineers (9-2) are averaging 69.9 points per game. That’s in stark contrast to Seton Hall, which is averaging 14 fewer points per game and plays a deliberate style.
Coach Phyllis Mangina’s team has three double-figure scorers in senior forward Ashley Bush (12.0 ppg.), sophomore forward Monique Blake (11.4) and sophomore guard Heta Korpivaara (10.5), who stands 6-foot-2.
West Virginia’s last victory against Seton Hall came on the road in 1999 when the Mountaineers tripped the Pirates 78-70.
Seton Hall leads the series by a 9-6 count.
Tonight’s game can be heard on WAJR AM in Morgantown, WAJR FM in Clarksburg, ESPN Radio on Charleston, WDNE in Elkins and via the Internet through Yahoo! Sports.
Tip off is set for 7 pm.
