A Ticket Puncher
February 26, 2007 10:04 PM | General
February 26, 2007
BOX SCORE
 |
||
| LaQuita Owens |
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team extinguished any doubts about its postseason future Monday night, rallying from 16 points down in the first half to defeat No. 21 Louisville 76-71 in overtime at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky.
The first half didn’t look so promising for the Mountaineers. West Virginia fell behind 14-3 seven minutes into the game and after a LaQuita Owens 3 cut the deficit to 14-6 at the 12:18 mark of the first half, the Mountaineers didn’t score again until an Olayinka Sanni lay up at the 7:31. During that time, Louisville had mounted an 8-2 run to grab a 22-8 lead.
After the Sanni lay up, Chakhia Cole hit a jumper on West Virginia’s next possession, Owens hit another 3 to give the Mountaineers life and cut the deficit to 22-13 with 5:10 to play in the half.
Sanni briefly cut the deficit to seven with a lay up on the ensuing Mountaineer possession before the Cardinals mounted an 8-0 run capped by a Jazz Covington lay up to take a 30-15 lead with 29 seconds remaining in the half. Cole answered with an important 3 with seven seconds left to make the margin 30-18 at halftime in favor of Louisville.
"We gave up 12 offensive rebounds and had 15 turnovers at halftime," said West Virginia coach Mike Carey.
The Cardinals shot just 12 of 35 in the first half but got 13 more shots than the Mountaineers due to the 15 West Virginia turnovers and a 26-14 rebounding advantage.
The second half effort by WVU was nothing short of remarkable. Facing a double-digit deficit in a hostile environment, West Virginia played the last 25 minutes with maximum effort and determination.
The teams traded baskets early on in the first half and a Covington lay up kept the Cardinal lead in double-digits at 39-28 with 15:54 to play. It was then that the Mountaineers began to charge, mounting a quick 11-2 run capped by an Owens 3 that brought WVU within two, 41-39, with 13:35 left.
Helen Johnson promptly hit a 3 for Louisville to take the lead back out to five. Owens answered with a 3 of her own, and after a defensive stop, Ashley Powell hit an open jumper to tie the score at 44 with 9:37 left to play.
A Johnson lay up gave the Cardinals a 56-53 advantage with 5:04 to play but West Virginia responded, reeling off six straight points capped by a Sanni jumper to take a 59-56 lead with just 2:52 left to play.
A Covington lay up and a Patrika Barlow jumper put Lousiville back in the lead with 1:58 to play. Owens and McCoughtry traded a pair of three throws to make the score 62-61, Cardinals with 1:17 left.
Owens hit a clutch jumper on the West Virginia’s next possession but Johnson answered herself to keep Louisville up by one, 64-63 with 34 seconds left. Owens produced another clutch jumper to put the Mountaineers up 65-64 with just 26 seconds left. West Virginia got a big defensive stop on the next possession when Powell took a Covington charge, giving the Mountaineers the ball with just eight seconds remaining.
Sparkle Davis was fouled by McCoughtry with seven seconds remaining, sending the Cardinals main scoring threat to the bench with five fouls. Two Davis free throws gave West Virginia a 67-64 lead and set up Louisville's final possession of regulation. The Cardinals made the most of it when Brandi Radde, having just been inserted into the game, drilled a 3 from the left wing as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime.
A 3 by Owens got the overtime started right for the Mountaineers. Covington responded with a jumper for Louisville and a follow up basket by Sanni on the Mountaineers' next possession gave the Gold and Blue a 72-69 lead with 2:56 left.
A Johnson lay up brought the Cardinals within one and after a Sanni miss at the other end, Louisville’s Yuliya Tokova was fouled, setting up a one and one opportunity with 1:09 left. Tokova missed the front end and after a miss by Cole, Sanni stole the ball from Covington and passed it ahead to Owens who was fouled with 21 seconds left. The two free throws gave WVU a 74-71 lead. After a missed 3 by Covington, another pair of free throws by Owens made up the final score.
"The girls deserve all the credit," Carey said. "They didn't quit. They kept fighting and because of that we were able to get the win."
West Virginia (20-9, 11-5) was an impressive 13 of 15 from the foul line in the second half including 4 of 4 in overtime. The Mountaineers shot 43 percent for the game compared to 42 percent for Louisville. After turning the ball over 15 times in the first half, West Virginia turned it over just three times the rest of the game.
Owens led the Mountaineers with a career-high 30 points on 9 of 18 shooting from the floor including 5 of 13 from 3-point range. The Charlotte, N.C., native also collected nine rebounds. Sanni pitched in 21 points and nine rebounds while Cole added 14 points.
"LaQuita plays for the heat of the game," said Cole. "She will take her shots if she's open and if she's not open she will try to facilitate some offense and get into the game in other ways. But in the second half she stepped up."
Louisville (24-6, 10-6) was led by McCoughtry’s 33 points on 12 of 19 shooting from the floor. Covington added 17.
"(McCoughtry) is a very good player," said Cole. "You have to give her props. She fought for her team and it seemed like everything she shot was going in."
