Women's Basketball: Updated Notes for UConn Game
March 07, 2006 09:12 AM | General
By Phil Caskey for MSNsportsNET.com
March 7, 2006
No. 12 seeded West Virginia’s (15-15) upset of No. 1 seed Rutgers (ranked 6th nationally), 56-40, marked the highest ranked opponent the Mountaineers have defeated in program history. The previous highest ranked opponent the Mountaineers had ever defeated since knocking off No. 8 George Washington, 80-61, in 1991.
Under Mike Carey, the victory over No. 6 Rutgers marked the fourth victory over a ranked opponent in his five years. Earlier this season, WVU knocked off then No. 11 DePaul, 82-70. In 2003-04 the Mountaineers defeated No. 19 Virginia Tech, 69-66, and No. 23 Villanova in the BIG EAST tournament quarterfinals. The victory over the Wildcats clinched an NCAA tournament berth for WVU.
Defense in a “Zone”: WVU’s zone defense has been the key to the Mountaineers run to the BIG EAST tournament championship game. WVU has held two of its three opponents (Louisville and Rutgers) to under 30 percent shooting in the tournament.
Against WVU’s revived zone, Louisville, St. John’s and Rutgers have combined to shoot just 28.5% (45-158) from the field.
West Virginia advances to its first ever BIG EAST final. WVU’s last tournament championship game appearance was in 1989 when the Mountaineers beat Temple for the Atlantic 10 title.
A #12 seed is the lowest to ever advance to a BIG EAST final. The previous low seed of #7 was established by Providence in 1993 and Rutgers in 2004. The lowest seed to ever win a final was a #5.
West Virginia’s 16-point margin of victory ties for the third largest margin of victory ever over a top seed in the history of the BIG EAST tournament.
Rutgers’ 40 points were the fewest ever scored by a #1 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament. The previous low was 48 points done by UConn twice (2004 vs. Virginia Tech and 2003 vs. Villanova).
WVU avenges its 2003-04 BIG EAST semifinal loss to Rutgers. Then No. 6 Rutgers defeated then No. 7 WVU 61-51.
For the third consecutive game WVU won when scoring fewer than 60 points. Entering the BIG EAST tournament WVU was 0-10 on the season when it failed to reach the 60 point plateau.
WVU becomes the first team in the history of the BIG EAST tournament to win its first three games without scoring 60 points in any of the contests. WVU was just the third team to ever win its first two games of a BIG EAST tournament without scoring 60 points. West Virginia joined Rutgers (2004) and Pitt (1996) in that category.
Holding Rutgers to 16 first half points ties WVU’s best defensive output of the season. Cleveland State scored just 16 points in Morgantown in the opening stanza on Dec. 19. Meanwhile, 18 points is WVU’s season low, topping the 21 scored against both Cincinnati and Connecticut.
WVU Coach Mike Carey improves to 3-4 all-time against Rutgers.
WVU’s eight blocks against the Scarlet Knights ties a season high set on Jan. 1 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
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.
WVU trailed St. John’s 32-22 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.
Britney Davis-White tallied a career-high with 21 points in the Rutgers win. Her previous career-best was 20 at Duquesne.
Davis-White’s 14 made free throws tie for the fifth-best performance in school history. Her 20 attempts were the second-most in school history.
Twenty free throw attempts is one shy of tying the tournament record of 21 set by Helen Koskinen of Villanova on March 3, 1989 against St. John’s. She made 16 of them, also a conference tournament record.
In her last two games, Chakhia Cole is 13-15 (.867) from the free throw line. Entering the BIG EAST tournament Cole was averaging 63.9%.
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’s 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 is 1-16 all-time against Connecticut and has lost 16 consecutive contests to the Huskies. WVU lost to Connecticut, 58-50, in Storrs, earlier this season.
WVU’s lone win against Connecticut came in 1982- a 62-50 victory.
WVU and Connecticut have met just once before in BIG EAST tournament action. The Huskies defeated the Mountaineers in the 1998 tournament 84-82 in quarterfinal action.
March 7, 2006
No. 12 West Virginia vs. No. 2 Connecticut
BIG EAST Final - March 7, 2006
Team Notes
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| Rutgers Matee Ajavon reaches in to block West Virginia's Chakhia Cole as Cole tried to come in for a shot in the first half ofa semifinal game in the 2006 Big East Women's Basketball Championship in Hartford, Conn., Monday, March 6, 2006.
AP photo/Bob Child |
Individual Notes
Against Connecticut
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