Four in a Row
January 20, 2007 03:48 PM | General
January 20, 2007
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Chakhia Cole scored a team-high 14 points and collected seven rebounds to lead West Virginia to a hard-fought, 59-45 victory over the Villanova Wildcats Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
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| West Virginia guard LaQuita Owens scores two of her 13 points in the Mountaineers' 59-45 victory over Villanova Saturday at the WVU Coliseum.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
It was a balanced effort offensively for the Gold and Blue as four Mountaineers joined Cole in double figures. LaQuita Owens scored 13 points and shot an impressive 3-6 from 3-point range. Olayinka Sanni added 12 points and Sparkle Davis pitched in with 11.
“We are a little bit more balanced than we have been in the past,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. “The key is if Chakhia and Yinka are active in the paint our guards will have an opportunity to score. I really think we are executing better in the half court.”
Villanova had control of the game early, building leads of 13-6 and 18-10 midway through the first half. Aiding the Wildcats were nine WVU turnovers resulting in 11 Villanova points.
Villanova built its largest lead of the game at 20-12 on two Stacie Witman foul shots at the 8:48 mark of the first half.
The Mountaineers then closed with an 11-5 run to cut the deficit to 25-23 at intermission. West Virginia got some much needed momentum right before halftime when Ashley Powell grabbed a rebound and raced the length of the floor, finishing the play with a gorgeous up-and-under lay-up.
“I thought we were lucky to be down just two at halftime with all of the turnovers and our lack of execution,” Carey said.
In the second half the Mountaineers looked like a new team offensively, taking care of the ball and executing their half court offense efficiently. Down 33-32 with 13:32 to play, West Virginia hit its stride offensively exploding on an 8-0 run capped by a Lateefah Joye to give the Mountaineers a 40-33 advantage with 10:10 to play.
Villanova pulled to within four, 42-38, on two Witman free throws with 8:41, but that was as close as the Wildcats could get the rest of the way. West Virginia responded with a 13-3 run over the next three minutes to grab its largest lead of the game at 55-41 with 5:23 to play. Owens hit two consecutive 3s to cap the run, allowing the Mountaineers to coast home to victory.
“In the second half we did a good job executing and finishing the game off both offensively and defensively,” Carey said. “Our girls were determined that once we got the lead we were not going to lose it like we did against them last time.”
West Virginia (12-7, 4-3) converted all nine of its free throw attempts in the second half to dispel any chance of a Villanova rally.
For the game, West Virginia shot 46 percent from the field while holding the normally sharp-shooting Wildcats to only 28 percent. The Mountaineers defended tenaciously the entire game, not allowing Villanova to hurt them with their trademark back-door cuts.
“I thought the key to the game for us was limiting them to one or two back doors the entire game,” Carey said. “We wanted them to shoot over the top and not get back-door lay ups and other kinds of easy buckets.”
Villanova (7-12, 1-5) was led by Witman’s 20 points on 5-14 shooting from the field. Tia Grant had 13 points but was held to just two in the second half. The West Virginia defense also held Jackie Adamshick to only four points on 2 of 15 shooting.
The four consecutive league wins is the most the Mountaineers have had since reeling off eight straight during the 2003-2004 season. The win also snaps a 13-game regular season losing streak to Villanova.
West Virginia improves to 8-1 at home this season.
“This is a good group of girls,” Carey said. “I realize there are a lot of games left and you are only as good as your last game but we are playing pretty well right now and we need to keep it up because we need every win we can get coming down the stretch.”
WVU returns to action to face Marshall in the annual Capital Classic on Wednesday, Jan. 24, at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, W.Va. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. The women’s and men’s games can be seen outside of West Virginia on CSTV All-Access Pay-Per-View.
