WVU Survives
December 02, 2006 03:39 PM | General
December 2, 2006
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Britney Davis-White’s free throw with 13 seconds left lifted West Virginia to a 54-53 victory over Coppin State Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
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| Britney Davis-White made this free throw to lift West Virginia to a 54-53 victory over Coppin State Saturday at the WVU Coliseum.
All-Pro Photography/Allison Toffle |
Coppin State (4-2) had an opportunity to win the game by Shalamar Oakley’s drive to the basket was off the mark and LaQuita Owens was able to grab the rebound.
“I thought defense at the end was good and we got a strong rebound in there,” said West Virginia coach Mike Carey.
West Virginia (5-3) jumped out to a 30-19 halftime lead and led by as many as 15 with 17:55 left in the game when an Owens basket made the score 36-21. But the Mountaineers went cold and the Eagles began chipping away at the lead.
“I thought we were a step slow,” Carey said. “We played a lot of games. We played three games in a row to start the season and then we turned around and went to California and played two games in a row before coming back here to play. We had one day of practice and come back and play. But that’s no excuse. We’ve got to do a better job with execution.”
A lay up by Tamieka Noel pulled the Eagles to within two, 50-48, with 4:43 remaining and Coppin State eventually tied the game at 53 on Noel’s free throw with 1:06 left.
Chakhia Cole led West Virginia with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Ranisha White came off the bench to score 14 points and grab four rebounds in place of starter Olayinka Sanni, who was in foul trouble and eventually fouled out with 1:06 remaining.
“I thought Ranisha White came in and did some good things for us and hopefully she will continue to do that so we can play her more,” Carey said.
Rashida Suber scored 17 and Oakley added 13 for the Eagles.
West Virginia held a 32-21 advantage on the boards and shot 47.8 percent for the game (22 of 46). Coppin State shot 50 percent (19 of 38) after making just 6-of-16 first-half field goals.
“They were pretty patient on offense and that’s to their credit,” Carey said.
The Mountaineers had 25 turnovers and Coppin State had 23.
“We had a lot of unforced turnovers and we’ve just got to continue to get better,” Carey said. “I’d much rather be here talking about the things that we need to work on after a win than a loss.”
West Virginia opens Big East play on Wednesday night at Marquette.
