Women's Basketball: WVU to Host USF
February 16, 2007 06:53 PM | General
February 16, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.- The West Virginia University women’s basketball team will look to build some momentum for the stretch run when they host the South Florida Bulls on Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum. The game will be played following the men’s contest against Seton Hall. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.
West Virginia (16-9, 7-5) is coming off a six-day rest since falling at nationally ranked Rutgers back on Sunday afternoon. Coach Mike Carey believes the rest helped his team from both a health and a basketball standpoint.
“It gave us an opportunity to work on some things we haven’t gotten a chance to work on. We got to review some things and work on fundamentals a little bit,” Carey said. “It also gave us a chance to get some people healthy.”
The Mountaineer’s balanced attack is paced by center Olayinka Sanni’s 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. LaQuita Owens, West Virginia’s best 3-point threat, chips in 13.2 points per contest. The Charlotte, N.C. native is eighth in the NCAA in 3-pointers made per game (2.8). Chakhia Cole rounds out the Mountaineers in double-figures, averaging 11.5 points per contest. The junior forward has started 90 consecutive games and leads the team with 83 assists.
South Florida (18-7, 8-4) enters the game coming off a 78-64 win at Providence on Tuesday night. The victory snapped a modest two game losing streak for the Bulls.
USF is led by All-America and National Player of the Year candidate Jessica Dickson. The senior forward from Ocala, Fl. averages a team-best 20 points per game. She is second on the team in rebounding, pulling down 7.6 boards per game. Sophomore guard Shantia Grace is the only other Bull in double-figures, averaging 15.7 points per contest.
“Jessica Dickson is a big time scorer. They are very athletic team and all of their other players can score. They run up and down the floor and press a lot,” Carey said. “Their defense dictates a lot of their offense. It’s going to be an up and down game, which is what we like, and it is going to be a very exciting game for the fans to watch.”
West Virginia will counter the Bull’s offensive firepower with a stingy defense. The Mountaineers are ranked 23rd nationally in scoring defense, holding its opponents to just 56.2 points per game. West Virginia’s field goal percentage defense is ranked 26th nationally at 36.3 percent. Carey says his Mountaineers will use a variety of tactics Saturday evening.
“We’ll change up a little bit. We’ll show them man and zone,” Carey said. “Like I told the girls yesterday, it’s going to come down to us matching up with them man to man and we’ll see who comes out on top.”
Carey says there is a fine line between giving Dickson the proper defensive attention and letting the other players run wide open.
“We need to do a good job of containing Dixon. We’re not going to stop her but we need to contain her,” Carey said. “We just can’t let the other four have career nights because we’re worrying about her so much.”
WVU and USF will be meeting for just the second time in women’s basketball. USF defeated WVU 66-56 last year in Tampa.
West Virginia is 11-1 at home this season and 12-0 when wearing gold uniforms. The Mountaineers are 12-2 this season when holding opponents under 60 points.
Fans can listen to the game on WAJR 1440 AM in Morgantown, U-92 91.7 FM in Morgantown, WAJR 103.3 FM in Clarksburg, ESPN Radio 1490 AM in Charleston, WDNE 1230AM in Elkins, WKEZ 1240 AM in Bluefield, WKLP 1390 AM in Keyser or on the Internet through CSTV All-Access.
Fans outside of West Virginia can also catch the game on CSTV All-Access.
