Women's Basketball: WVU Heads to Notre Dame
February 03, 2007 07:12 PM | General
February 3, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team will try to win their eighth game in a row overall and seventh in a row in the Big East when they travel to South Bend, Ind. to battle the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off from the Joyce Center is set for 5:30 p.m.
The Mountaineers enter the game boasting a balanced offensive attack to go along with a stingy defense.
West Virginia is led by center Olayinka Sanni’s 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. The Chicago Heights, Ill. native has reached double-figures in 11 consecutive games, the longest such streak of her career.
Guard LaQuita Owens is next in scoring, averaging 12.6 points per contest. Owens, who is the Mountaineers’ most dangerous 3-point threat, is coming of a career-best 26 point 11 rebound performance in Wednesday night’s victory over Syracuse. Forward Chakhia Cole rounds out the Mountaineers in double-figures, averaging 11.3 points per game.
West Virginia (15-7, 6-3) will look to continue the stellar defensive effort that has become the backbone of the team this season. WVU has held its opponents to just 55.9 points per game this season, only allowing two teams to score 70 or more. The Mountaineers are ranked 26th nationally in scoring defense.
Notre Dame (13-8, 4-4) enters the contest looking to snap a three-game skid. The Irish return home from a brutal road stretch in which they lost games at Marquette, Connecticut and Pittsburgh.
Notre Dame is led by the backcourt tandem of junior Charel Allen and freshman Ashley Barlow. Allen averages a team-best 15.7 points per game while Barlow pitches in 10.3 points per contest.
If the Mountaineers are to keep their win streak alive they will have to buck some significant historical trends, much like they did in beating Villanova earlier this season. The Irish own a 14-1 all-time advantage over West Virginia and the Mountaineers have never won in the Joyce Center. West Virginia’s lone win in the series came on January 17, 2004 when they handed Notre Dame a 64-51 loss in Morgantown.
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN U.
