Women's Basketball: WVU Outlasts Oakland
December 16, 2006 09:30 PM | General
December 16, 2006
BOX SCORE
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women’s basketball team used a 16-3 run in the first six minutes of the second half to outlast Oakland 70-61 Saturday night at the WVU Coliseum
WVU held a slim 33-29 halftime lead but wasted no time taking control of the game in the second half. After a basket by Oakland’s Nicole Piggott cut the Mountaineer’s lead to 33-31 a minute into the second half, West Virginia exploded for a 16-3 run that gave the Mountaineers a 49-34 lead with 14:12 to play in the game. The Golden Grizzlies would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
“Overall this was a good win for us,” head coach Mike Carey said. “I thought we did a good job with our ball movement and did better in our offensive sets. Oakland is a very good basketball team. They have played a lot of tough teams on the road.”
LaQuita Owens got the Mountaineers started with two straight three-pointers to spark the West Virginia run. Sparkle Davis chipped in with a three of her own, followed by two Chakia Cole lay ups and a Melanie Small jumper to give the Mountaineers a comfortable lead.
West Virginia (7-4, 0-1) was led by Sparkle Davis’ team-high 17 points, including a career-best four three-pointers. Chakia Cole was the only other Mountaineer in double figures, scoring 15 points, nine of which came in the second half.
WVU connected on 8 of 19 three-point attempts and shot 43 percent from the floor.
“They sagged in and gave us some open looks from three. Sparkle and LaQuita got hot. If we can get Sparkle and LaQuita hot consistently it will help us,” Carey said.
The Mountaineers had a 25-13 advantage in bench scoring.
“I thought Melanie Small came off the bench and gave us some quality minutes,” Carey said. “Tameka Kelly gave us quality minutes. Lateefah Joye also came off the bench and did some good things for us. Overall I was pleased with our bench.”
Oakland (4-6) guard Jessica Pike led the Golden Grizzlies with 19 points and Piggott added 17 points in the losing effort.
WVU has now won five of its last six contests. The Mountaineers improve to 31-1 under Carey against non-conference opponents at the WVU Coliseum.
The Mountaineers will now travel south to take on No. 5 Tennessee on Wednesday, Dec. 20, in Knoxville, Tenn. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.
