Women's Basketball: WVU to Take on No. 8 Rutgers
February 10, 2006 12:25 AM | General
February 9, 2006
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| Olayinka Sanni |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It looks like West Virginia has picked the wrong time to take on Rutgers. The No. 8-rated Scarlet Knights are coming off a 60-56 upset victory over No. 4 Connecticut Tuesday night and head into Morgantown for a Friday night game with a perfect 10-0 record in Big East play.
Rutgers (18-3) assumes sole possession of first place in the conference standings by way of Cappie Pondexter's 18-point performance in Storrs. The senior is averaging a team-best 22.1 points per game.
Guard Matee Ajavon, the 2005 Big East rookie of the year, is also averaging double figures at 12.0 points per game to go along with a team-high 3.9 assists per game. With those two, Rutgers has a distinct advantage in the backcourt facing West Virginia’s freshmen point-guard duo of Ashley Powell and Sarah Bucar.
Powell had a real tough game last Tuesday night at Providence, turning the ball over seven times in a disappointing 57-55 loss to the Friars. A three-point play by forward Chakhia Cole gave West Virginia a two-point lead with 23 seconds left, but back-to-back fouls by WVU gave Providence four points from the free throw line to win the game.
West Virginia (12-9, 4-6) has now got a real battle on its hands to remain in contention for a Big East tournament spot without its leading scorer Meg Bulger. In three games since Bulger has been out of the lineup, 5-9 guard LaQuita Owens has been able to pick up some of the offensive slack scoring 53 points, but the sophomore only managed 13 in the Providence loss.
Six-two center Olayinka Sanni leads the Mountaineers with a 13.2-points-per-game scoring averaging. Cole is averaging 11 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game.
West Virginia last defeated Rutgers in Morgantown in 2004 but the Scarlet Knights have won three of the last four and have a commanding 35-8 lead in all-time series play.
ESPNU will televise the game nationally. Tip off is set for 7 pm.
