Women's Basketball: No. 16 WVU Edges American
November 23, 2007 02:42 PM | General
November 23, 2007
BOX SCORE
KINGSTON, R.I. – West Virginia University’s women’s basketball team defeated American, 65-61, Friday afternoon in the opening game of the URI Invitational.
No. 16/17 West Virginia withstood a barrage of 3-pointers and a late run down the stretch by the Eagles (2-3) to defeat American for the second time in as many seasons.
Holding on to a 64-61 lead with six second left in the contest, senior guard Lateefah Joye blocked a 3-point attempt from AU’s Liz Hayes and senior guard LaQuita Owens made 1-of-2 free throws, after an American foul, to seal the victory.
WVU took their largest lead of the game at 49-37 with a Chakhia Cole layup with 13:12 left in the second half. From there the Eagles used three consecutive Hayes’ 3-pointers to cut the lead to 49-46.
West Virginia responded and took a seven point lead at 64-57 on a Cole 3-pointer with 4:13 left. Down the stretch, an Eagle layup and two free throws cut the deficit to three before Joye blocked Hayes’ shot to seal the victory.
Cole led the Mountaineers with 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting and a game-high four steals. Owens notched her fifth career double-double and first of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Senior center Olayinka Sanni scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.
The Eagles made nine 3-pointers on the day and were led by Hayes’ game-high 29 points. The WVU defense held American to just 37.5% shooting (18-48).
The first half was evenly matched as both schools traded baskets back and forth for the first 12 minutes. WVU used an 11-1 run over the final eight minutes of the contest to take a 35-25 lead at the break. West Virginia’s run to close the first half was sparked by five points from Owens who tallied a pretty turnaround jump shot at the four minute mark and hit a key 3-pointer 1:13 later.
At the half, West Virginia shot a blistering 50.0% from the field (15-30) and forced 10 Eagle turnovers. For the game, WVU also shot 50.0% (29-58) and out-rebounded the Eagles 38-25 including 14 offensive caroms.
WVU edged the Eagles 57-55 last season in a Thanksgiving tournament hosted by Loyola Marymount last season.
The Mountaineers return to action Saturday at 2 p.m. in the championship game of the URI Invitational at the Ryan Center against Rhode Island.
