Women's Basketball: WVU Bags Road Win
January 08, 2005 03:48 PM | General
January 8, 2005
 |
||
| Bulger |
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Meg Bulger scored 21 points and Yolanda Paige added 14 to lead West Virginia to a 60-45 victory at Providence Saturday afternoon.
West Virginia’s win snapped a three-game losing streak.
Bulger made 10 of 16 field goal attempts and Paige went six of seven to help West Virginia make 25 of 55 for the game. Freshman Chakhia Cole finished the game with 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
West Virginia overcame an early 12-6 Providence lead behind the strong first-half play of Cole, who scored eight and grabbed 10 rebounds by the break.
A Bulger layup at 5:39 gave West Virginia a 19-17 lead and another layup by Sherell Sowho made it 21-17, Mountaineers.
A three-point play by Cole with 3:50 remaining gave West Virginia’s its biggest lead of the half, 24-17.
Jill Furstenburg stopped the West Virginia with a jumper and Yuli Serebryanska added two free throws to close the Mountaineers’ lead to three, 24-21
A Sowho steal and layup ahead of the buzzer gave West Virginia a 26-21 halftime lead.
Bulger scored the first five points of the second half and Sowho added a layup to give West Virginia a 33-23 lead and force Providence coach Susan Yow to call timeout.
West Virginia led 39-26 before Providence used an 11-2 run to cut West Virginia’s lead to four, 41-37, following a Shauna Snyder three-point basket.
Bulger stopped the run with a layup after a pass from Paige.
Following a media timeout at 7:35, Ramika McGee knocked down a pair of free throws to push West Virginia’s lead to six, 45-39.
From that point West Virginia went on a 9-2 run to increase its advantage to 13, 54-41 after a Sowho layup at 5:12.
The Mountaineers closed the game outscoring the Lady Friars 17-6 to capture their first league of the year.
Snyder led Providence (1-13, 0-3) with 17 points. The Lady Friars made 18 of 40 field goal attempts for 45 percent and committed 22 turnovers. West Virginia held a 29-25 rebounding edge.
The victory was costly for West Virginia as freshman center Olayinka Sanni left the game in the second half on crutches with a sprained ankle. The Mountaineers finished the game with just two available centers: McGee and junior Jeriece Lee.
West Virginia plays its final non-conference game of the year Tuesday evening against Marshall in Charleston. That contest will precede the men’s game and start at 5:30 pm.
