Women's Basketball: WVU Takes on No. 4 UConn
February 03, 2006 03:56 PM | General
February 3, 2006
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| Chakhia Cole |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team draws another difficult assignment Saturday night facing No. 4-rated Connecticut in Storrs.
The Huskies are 20-2 overall and 9-0 in the Big East, having most recently defeated Louisville, 75-68 on Jan. 31. Freshman guard Renee Montgomery scored a game-high 26 points and sophomore forward Charde Houston added 18. Louisville led Connecticut 25-20 in the first half before UConn went on a 25-4 run, holding the Cardinals to just one field goal for a nine-minute stretch.
Louisville fought back and eventually tied the game at 66 with 1:52 to go, but Montgomery made a lay up and then knocked down six straight free throws.
Senior Ann Strother is Connecticut’s leading scorer averaging 14.7 points per game. Mel Thomas is averaging 13.6 points per game.
Connecticut is second to DePaul in scoring offense in the Big East averaging 76.3 points per game and is also second to Rutgers in scoring defense giving up just 55.3 points per contest.
The Huskies are the top shooting team in the league making 49.2 percent of its field goals. Second to UConn is West Virginia, which is making 48.8 percent of its shots.
The Mountaineers play their second straight game without leading scorer Meg Bulger, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last Sunday at St. John’s. West Virginia’s first foray without Bulger was extremely successful, knocking off No. 11-ranked DePaul Tuesday night at the Coliseum.
Bulger’s replacement LaQuita Owens scored a career-high 20 points and Chakhia Cole contributed 17 points, five rebounds and five assists. West Virginia never trailed in the game and led by as many as 16 points.
The Mountaineers, 12-7, 4-4, are still searching for their first win over Connecticut since joining the Big East Conference. The Huskies have won all 15 meetings since 1996.
Game time is 7 pm.
