WVU Falls Short
March 31, 2005 10:24 PM | General
March 31, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Kari Koch scored 23 points and Jenni Linger added 20 to lead Southwest Missouri State to a 78-70 win over West Virginia in the WNIT championship game at the Hammons Center in Springfield, Mo.
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| West Virginia's Meg Bulger, center, looks to pass out of a double-team by Southwest Missouri State's Jenni Lingor, left, and K.C. Cowgill during the first half of the Women's NIT championship game in Springfield, Mo., Thursday, March 31, 2005.
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein |
Koch and Linger made seven threes and the Lady Bears hit 11 in all to capture its first WNIT title.
Trailing 38-35 early in the second half, SMS used a 23-5 run over the first 10 minutes of the second half to take control of the game. During a four minute stretch the Lady Bears got three-point baskets from K.C. Cowgill, Koch, Sarah Klaassen and two in a row from Linger to force West Virginia coach Mike Carey to call timeout with 9:46 remaining and the Mountaineers trailing 58-44.
Olayinka Sanni was able to stop the SMS run with a basket in the paint, but prior to the Meg Bulger picked up three quick fouls in a span of a minute to put her on the bench with four with 8:51 remaining.
SMS was able to build its biggest lead of the game at 16 on a free throw by Nicole Lehman with x to go.
The Mountaineers did reduce their deficit to 10 on a tough Chakhia Cole runner in the paint with 4:37 remaining, and a bank shot from the foul line by Yolanda Paige got WVU to within eight with 2:45 to go. However, SMS was able to 10 straight free throws to puts its lead back to 12 with 19 seconds left. A pair of threes by Paige and Kate Glusko made the final deficit eight.
Cowgill finished with 18 points and Klaassen added 10 for SMS, which finishes the season with a 25-8 record.
The Lady Bears made 26 of 56 from the field for 46.4 percent and hit 15 of 18 from the free throw line.
Paige led West Virginia with 22 points and 10 assists. Cole contributed 17 points and Bulger added 16 before fouling out with 41 seconds left in the game.
Like it did in its semifinal victory at Kentucky, West Virginia hit a lull in the second half and this time it proved costly. After Cole’s basket to open the second half, WVU was able to convert its second field goal until six minutes later when Bulger hit a jumper at the foul line.
The Mountaineers’ biggest lead was seven at 14-7 and they led 36-35 at halftime.
West Virginia made 27 of 61 from the field for 44.3 percent and was six of 20 from three for 30.0 percent. The Mountaineers were 10 of 15 from the free throw line and owned a 37-31 rebounding advantage.
West Virginia finishes completes its season with a 21-13 record.
Game Notes: A crowd of 8,671 was announced for tonight’s game … the same duo of Koch and Linger 47 points in SMS’s 82-64 victory against West Virginia last year in the 2003 Paradise Jam Tournament in the Virgin Islands …the Mountaineers set a school record with 206 threes for the season and SMS set an NCAA single-season mark with 305 …Paige’s 10 assists gives her 902 for her career making her just the seventh player in NCAA history to do so … Paige also became just the 12th player in WVU history to score more than 1,400 points for her career (1,414) …senior Sherell Sowho finished her career with 1,491 … Cole finished the game two points shy of tying her season high of 19 points … it was her sixth d
