Women's Basketball: Updated Notes for Rutgers Game
March 06, 2006 11:54 AM | General
By Phil Caskey for MSNsportsNET.com
March 6, 2006
With its 55-49 victory of No. 4 seeded St. John’s, No. 12 WVU (14-15, 4-12) advances to the BIG EAST semifinals for the second time in three years.
WVU’s last appearance in the BIG EAST semifinal came in 2003-04, falling to Rutgers 61-51. WVU was a No. 6 seed in that tournament while Rutgers was a No. 7.
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.
WVU is the first No. 12 seed to qualify for the BIG EAST semifinals.
For the second consecutive game WVU held its opponents to under 50 points. Conversely, WVU won just its second game of the season when scoring under 60 points and is now 2-10 when doing so. The other win came in the BIG EAST quarterfinals with a 54-45 win over Louisville.
WVU is just the third team to ever win its first two of games of a BIG EAST tournament without scoring 60 points. WVU joins Rutgers (2004) and Pitt (1996).
WVU trailed St. John’s 22-32 early in the second half. The comeback victory marked just the second time this season that WVU came back to win a contest when down by at least 10 points (Kennesaw State). WVU improves to 2-9 in that category on the year.
WVU committed 22 turnovers in the quarterfinal victory over St. John’s, marking just the fifth win on the season when the Mountaineers commit more turnovers than its opponent. WVU is now 5-12 in that category on the year.
WVU shot a stellar 80.0% from the free throw line in the St. John’s win marking the fourth game this season that WVU has shot 80 percent or better in a game. The Mountaineers are now 4-0 when doing so (at Houston - 83.3%; at Duquesne - 80.8%; Marshall - 82.8%).
WVU improves to 7-9 all-time in BIG EAST tournament play. The Mountaineers are now 5-4 all-time in the BIG EAST tournament under coach Mike Carey, and have won five of its last seven BIG EAST tournament matchups dating back to the beginning of the 004 tournament. Prior to Carey’s arrival, WVU was just 2-5 in the tournament and did not qualify in 2001.
With its 54-45 victory over No. 5 seeded Louisville, No. 12 West Virginia (13-15, 4-12) advanced 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 marked 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.
The victory over the Cardinals improved 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 against Louisville 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.
Chakhia Cole notched her sixth career double-double with her team-high 13 points and game-best 11 rebounds in WVU’s 55-49 victory over No. 4 St. John’s. It was her fourth double-double of the season.
Cole was a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line including a 6-6 performance in the game’s final 3:13. She hit two huge free throws to extend WVU’s lead to three, 52-49, with 33 seconds left in the contest. She then hit two more free throws with 18 seconds left to seal the victory. Her performance at the charity stripe marked a career-best free throw shooting percentage.
Cole 11 rebounds give her 206 entering the Rutgers contest. She has now tallied back-to-back 200+ rebounding games in her first two seasons.
Cole is the only Mountaineer to start all 29 games entering the BIG EAST semfinal. She has started all 63 games of her career.
LaQuita Owens grabbed a career-high seven rebounds against St. John’s.
Britney Davis-White’s 19 points in the Louisville 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 in the Louisville win tied a career-best set against Kennesaw State earlier this year.
Ashley Powell had one of her best games in a Mountaineer uniform in the win over the Cardinals. 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 Rutgers will be meeting for the 45th time in a series that began in 1980. The Scarlet Knights lead the series by a 36-8 count and have won four straight against the Mountaineers.
WVU fell to Rutgers earlier this season 54-41. WVU was down 22-6 in that contest and then used a 16-0 run to tie the score at 22 entering halftime. Olayinka Sanni was the only Mountaineer to tally double-digits in that contest, scoring 13.
WVU and Rutgers have previously met in a BIG EAST semifinal. That was in 2004 and Rutgers, seeded 7th, defeated No. 6 West Virginia 61-51.
WVU’s last victory over Rutgers came in the 2003-04 regular season, an 80-71 victory at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va.
Mike Carey is 2-4 all-time against Rutgers.
March 6, 2006
No. 12 West Virginia vs. No. 1 Rutgers
BIG EAST Semifinal - March 6, 2006
Team Notes
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| West Virginia's Chakhia Cole drives for two of her team-high 13 points against St. John's Sunday afternoon in a Big East tournament quarterfinal game at the Hartford Civic Center.
AP photo/Bob Child |
Individual Notes
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| LaQuita Owens |
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