Hoyas Humbled
February 19, 2005 03:42 PM | General
February 19, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Yolanda Paige and Meg Bulger scored 20 points each to lead West Virginia to a 73-61 victory over Georgetown Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
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| Meg Bulger scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Saturdya to help West Virginia to a 73-61 win over Georgetown.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Paige made seven of 12 field-goal attempts and was two of three from three–point range while also handing out a game-high seven assists.
“She only had seven assists but those 20 points we needed because a lot of teams are staying off here when she penetrates and she needs to score,” said West Virginia coach Mike Carey. “I thought she had a great game for us.”
Bulger hit nine of 21 from the floor and also grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds.
“Needless to say we needed this one,” said Carey. “I thought our girls in the second half stepped up defensively. I thought for the first time in a long time we got some production off the bench defensively. I thought Jeriece Lee came in and played well and I thought LaQuita Owens gave us another threat out there and was aggressive.”
West Virginia (15-9, 6-7) shot 40 percent overall, making 26 of 65 after hitting on just 37.1 percent of its field-goal tries in the first half. The Mountaineers held a 44-36 rebounding advantage over the much taller Hoyas.
Georgetown, which drops to 9-15, 4-9, couldn’t find the basket throughout, missing several open layups and finishing the game making just 19 of 53 for 35.8 percent. The Hoyas were much better away from the basket hitting seven of 16 from three-point range for 43.8 percent. Georgetown committed 14 turnovers.
The game turned in West Virginia’s favor with 11 minutes remaining when Sherell Sowho was able to nail a three-point basket to give the Mountaineers a 47-45 lead. WVU was able to build its lead to six, 55-49, with 7:45 remaining on a three by Paige.
Georgetown was able to cut the Mountaineers’ lead to two, 55-53, on a pair of Kristin Heidloff free throws. But the Hoyas went then went cold, missing five straight shots and committing a turnover to help West Virginia build a 13-point lead with 1:11 remaining.
“At halftime I told our girls some of their wide-open threes were because we were going behind picks,” said Carey. “We prepared pre-game and the last two practices going over top of picks and stopping the penetration. In the first half we didn’t do that and the second half we did and we started getting good weak-side help. That caused them to take some bad shots and miss some easy ones.”
Bulger was the catalyst of West Virginia’s run, scoring six of WVU’s 11 points in a span of four minutes. West Virginia’s biggest lead of the game was 15 points with six seconds left following a layup by Sowho.
“Meg struggled a little bit going two-for-eight from three but she still hit a couple of big shots, especially when they went into that zone out of the high post,” Carey said.
Sowho finished the game with 13 points, but managed to convert just four of 13 field-goal attempts. Sowho was four of 16 in her last game at Pitt making her eight of 29 over her last two games.
Olayinka Sanni contributed 10 points, eight coming in the first half, but didn’t play the remaining 11 minutes of the game while being saddled with foul trouble.
“Yinka in the first half did well but it was the same old story, we get a little bit tired and quick moving our feet and we pick up fouls,” said Carey. “I thought going down the stretch we could have put her back in with four but I just thought the group that was out there was playing together extremely well.”
Chakhia Cole fouled out with 8:39 remaining after scoring six points and grabbing six rebounds.
Heidloff led Georgetown with 14 points.
West Virginia split the season series with Georgetown but more importantly, the Mountaineers move into a tie with Seton Hall for seventh place in the conference standings with 6-7 records. The Pirates dropped a 71-44 decision at Boston College earlier today. St. John’s, with a 6-6 league record, is playing at Villanova.
West Virginia resumes play on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at the Coliseum against Providence. That game will tip off at 7 pm.
