WVU Women Roll
December 15, 2007 05:07 PM | General
December 15, 2007
BOX SCORE | POSTGAME QUOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No. 13-rated West Virginia began the game on a 25-4 run and never looked back, defeating Presbyterian College 93-26 in game one of a college basketball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
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| Ashley Powell assists on Olayinka Sanni's basket in the first half of Saturday's game against Presbyterian.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
“In the first 10 minutes I think we did a good job distributing the ball,” West Virginia Coach Mike Carey said. “Meg (Bulger) got hot. LaQuita (Owens) got hot. Sparkle (Davis) came in and hit a couple 3s and Ashley Powell did an excellent job distributing the ball to the open players and we hit the shots.”
The Mountaineers led 52-12 at halftime on the strength of 57 percent shooting from the floor. For the game, West Virginia (9-1) shot 48.6 percent and had a season-high six players reach double figures.
Presbyterian (1-9) began the game in a 2-3 zone in attempt to contain senior center Olayinka Sanni. As a result senior guard Meg Bulger scored 16 of her game-high 19 points in the first nine minutes of action. Bulger connected on 7 of 9 shots in the game and made three of her four 3-point attempts.
“She (Bulger) is still our number one option on the perimeter and she is very unselfish,” Carey said. “I’m so happy for Meg that she is back and is doing well because she deserves it. I think she’s coming back from her injury. I think the more she gets knocked down and gets back up and realizes that her knee is ok, the better off she is going to be.”
The Blue Hose were held to just 20 percent shooting for the game, connecting on 9 of 45 shots. West Virginia forced a season-high 33 turnovers while making 24 steals, the most under Carey.
The Mountaineers also dominated on the glass, outrebounding a smaller Presbyterian team 53-27 and tying the season-high for offensive rebounds with 24.
All 13 players that dressed for West Virginia played in the contest.
“It was also good to get bench players a lot of playing time and that way we have some film on them so they can see what they did right or wrong,” Carey said.
Promising freshman Liz Repella scored a career-high 13 points in 22 minutes of action. LaQuita Owens was next in scoring with 12, followed by Sparkle Davis with 11 and Sanni and Sarah Myles with 10 each.
“I love the way Liz (Repella) plays and I think she has accepted her role as a freshman. When you call on her she is always ready to play,” Carey said. “I think she is going to be a great player here. I’m very excited to have Liz, now and in the future.”
The Mountaineers shared the ball well, dishing out 28 assists on 36 baskets.
“In a game like that it’s easy to be selfish and we weren’t,” Carey said. “I thought we did a great job passing the ball, and distributing the ball to the shooters. I was happy about that.”
The 26 points by Presbyterian tied a WVU school record for fewest points allowed in a game. The Mountaineers held Akron and Seton Hill to the same number in 2002 and 1976, respectively. The 67-point victory is also the second largest margin of victory under Carey.
Sharie Hopkins led Presbyterian with nine points.
West Virginia now embarks on a tough two-game stretch playing at Oakland on Monday evening and then at Indiana on Dec. 22. Oakland is quality team that already shows a win over Florida State this season.
“Needless to say, the next two games coming up are big games. I just told them, these next two games - Oakland and Indiana - will be very important games come the end of February and March,” Carey said. “We need to stay focused.”
