Growing Pains
January 28, 2006 11:27 AM | General
January 28, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Having such a young team has turned West Virginia University women’s basketball coach Mike Carey into an old softy. At least that’s what some of his former Salem College players are telling him.
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| Freshman point guard Ashley Powell has made steady improvement this year, according to WVU coach Mike Carey. Powell and her Mountaineer teammates have a tough assignment Sunday facing St. John's in Madison Square Garden.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“I’ve had former players come here and watch games and tell me that they can’t believe what they went through compared to what these girls are going through right now,” laughed Carey. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m coaching girls or I’m just getting old.”
Carey has spent this year breaking in a pair of freshman point guards in Ashley Powell and Sarah Bucar with varying success. At times they’ve played well beyond their years and at other times it’s been almost like a kindergarten dance recital.
“It has been tough,” says Carey, admitting he’s been biting his lip a little more these days.
“I’ve backed way off of them,” he mentioned. “At the beginning I was hammering them pretty good and I think it has helped some and they’re playing with a little bit more confidence. They are playing better than they were in the beginning so it’s easier to back off.”
West Virginia, 11-6, 3-3, has had moments when it has looked like a Top 25 team when it ran a pretty good Louisville team right out of the gym. At other times, like a 67-61 loss to Seton Hall in its conference opener, the Mountaineers have been all thumbs and elbows.
“What is frustrating as a coach is we have nothing to hang our hats on right now,” Carey said. “We’ve been so inconsistent and you just don’t know what you’re going to get until it happens.”
Carey admits a lot of the responsibility for his team’s inconsistent play must be shouldered by the veteran players.
“We need to quit blaming our point guards,” he said. “They’re not the ones causing us to win or lose right now. They’re doing their job right now; they’re getting the ball down and getting us into our offense. The others have to pick it up and quit turning the ball over so much and do some things to take pressure off of them.”
The Mountaineers did a better job taking care of the basketball Wednesday night, knocking off a fired-up Marshall team 72-58 in Charleston. Meg Bulger scored a game-high 18 points and Chakhia Cole and Britney Davis-White contributed 15 each.
Bulger was able to keep her cool despite some rough play by Marshall that led to a 3 of 13 shooting night.
“I thought our girls showed a lot of class and a lot of self-discipline not to come back with some of the shots (they were taking),” Carey said. “I thought some of that was uncalled for and I kept telling our players not to get caught up in that and they’re just trying to take you out of your game, especially Meg. She really did a great job keeping her composure and not getting caught up in that stuff.”
Carey says his team will have a very difficult assignment this Sunday facing an outstanding St. John’s team in Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm is 16-3 under fourth-year coach Kim Barnes Arico. It is the best start by a St. John’s team since 1983 when it won 17 of its first 19 games on the way to a Big East title and NCAA tournament appearance.
“They’re a veteran team; they have all five starters back, and they’re playing two or three (off the bench) that are probably better than some of their starters,” Carey said.
Barnes Arico is coming off a 20-11 season last year and a WNIT appearance, where it was knocked out in the second round by West Virginia. After a tough first season in 2003, Barnes Arico is now 54-51 at St. John’s.
“She’s done a great job,” Carey said. “She’s a good coach and she’s brought in a lot of athletes from that area and she’s taken advantage of that.”
Sunday’s game will be played at historic Madison Square Garden. St. John’s has played two previous games in the Garden, knocking off Seton Hall last year and beating Villanova earlier this season. The West Virginia women will be making their first-ever appearance in the World’s Most Famous Arena.
“I talked to Yinka Sanni and a couple of other players and they knew no history at all about Madison Square Garden. I was trying to tell them a little about it,” Carey said. “But once they step in there and see the names of who played there and all of that then I think they’ll realize where they’re at.”
Tip off is noon and the game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Pittsburgh. Mountaineer fans can also watch the game on the Internet through CSTV All-Access.
