Big East Notebook
March 04, 2006 08:37 PM | General
MSNsportsNET.com
March 4, 2006 With its 54-45 victory over No. 5 seeded Louisville, No. 12 West Virginia (13-15, 4-12) advances to the BIG EAST quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
Last year the Mountaineers, seeded No. 7, defeated No. 10 seed Pitt, 77-68. WVU then fell to No. 2 Notre Dame, 70-59, in the quarterfinals.
In 2003-04, WVU’s NCAA tournament year, No. 6 WVU knocked off No. 11 St. John’s 84-59 in first round action. The Mountaineers then went on to defeat No. 3 Villanova, 58-47 in the quarterfinals before falling to No. 7 Rutgers, 61-51 in the semifinals.
The Louisville victory marks the first time in BIG EAST women’s basketball history that a No. 12 seed has defeated a No. 5 seed. Prior to WVU’s victory, the No. 12 seed in the tournament was 0-10 dating back to 1996, WVU’s first year in the BIG EAST.
West Virginia is the highest seed to advance to the BIG EAST quarterfinals since No. 13 Pitt marched all the way to the semifinals in 1996.
The victory over the Cardinals improves WVU’s record against the five new members of the BIG EAST conference to 3-3 on the season. The Mountaineers now show two wins over UL (99-73/1-10-06; 54-45/3-4-06) and an 82-70 victory over then No. 11 DePaul. WVU lost to Marquette (80-75); Cincinnati (56-46); and South Florida (66-56).
WVU held Louisville to just 45 points in the contest marking the second-lowest opponent scoring output on the year (Fordham - 36) and the fewest by a BIG EAST opponent on the season.
WVU scored 54 points in its win over the Cardinals, marking the first victory of the season when the Mountaineers scored less than 60 points. WVU was 0-10 on the year prior to the UL win. Conversely, WVU improves to 8-6 on the year when holding opponents under 60 points.
WVU’s 10 turnovers tied for the season low. WVU had 10 turnovers in its 75-59 loss at Villanova earlier in the year.
The victory snapped WVU’s eight-game losing streak - the longest losing streak of the Mike Carey era at WVU and the longest losing streak since the squad lost nine in a row midway through the 2000-01 season.
WVU improves to 6-9 all-time in BIG EAST tournament play. The Mountaineers are now 4-4 all-time in the BIG EAST tournament under coach Mike Carey, and have won four of its last six BIG EAST tournament matchups dating back to the 2004 tournament. Prior to Carey’s arrival, WVU was just 2-5 in the tournament and did not qualify in 2001.
Britney Davis-White’s 19 points marked the most points the junior guard scored in a contest since tallying 18 points in WVU’s 82-70 victory over No. 11 DePaul in late January. Her 17 points in the first half marked a career-high for most points tallied in a first half. She outscored Louisville 17-16 in the first half.
Olayinka Sanni’s 10 rebounds tied a career-best set against Kennesaw State earlier this year.
Ashley Powell had one of her best games in a Mountaineer uniform. While the Detroit native did not score she dished out eight assists, set a career-high with six steals and tied a career-best with six caroms in a career-high 38 minutes played.
WVU and St. John’s will be meeting for the second time this season in the 2006 BIG EAST quarterfinals.
WVU leads the all-time series with the Redstorm by a 12-4 count. SJU defeated WVU 74-69 earlier this season at Madison Square Garden. The win stopped a six-game Mountaineer win streak in the series. WVU junior guard Meg Bulger tore her left knee’s ACL late in that contest and will miss the rest of the 2006 season.
WVU and St. John’s have previously met in the BIG EAST tournament one time prior to this year’s matchup. WVU defeated the Redstorm 84-59 in BIG EAST first round action of the 2004 tournament. WVU went on to the semifinals for the first time in school history, that year.
WVU also defeated St. John’s in the 2005 WNIT second round last year, 68-63, in Morgantown.
1996, home, West Virginia, 63-57
1996, away, West Virginia, 71-66
1997, home, West Virginia, 73-70
1998, home, West Virginia, 65-43
1998, away, West Virginia, 63-55
1999, away, St. John’s, 82-71
2000, home, St. John’s, 61-55
2001, home, West Virginia, 81-63
2001, away, St. John’s, 66-41
2002, away, West Virginia, 69-47
2003, home, West Virginia, 68-59
2004, away, West Virginia, 69-67
2004, at Hartford, West Virginia, 84-59
2005, home, West Virginia, 84-58
2005, home, WNIT second round, West Virginia, 68-63
2006, away, St. John's, 74-69
March 4, 2006
West Virginia University Women’s Basketball Updated Game Notes
No. 12 West Virginia vs. No. 4 St. John’s
BIG EAST Quarterfinal - March 5, 2006
Television: CSTV
Internet: CSTV All Access
Team Notes
Individual Notes
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| West Virginia's Olayinka Sanni goes off her feet as she passes the ball over Louisville's Katie Olson's (33) head in the first half of their first round game of the Big East Women's Basketball Tournament in Hartford, Conn., Saturday, March 4, 2006.
AP photo/Bob Child |
The St. John’s Series
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Friday, April 03
Coach Deke Adams | April 2
Friday, April 03
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 2
Friday, April 03
