Mountaineers Roll
December 03, 2008 09:41 PM | General
December 3, 2008
| West Virginia 88 Mercyhurst 38 WVU coliseum morgantown, W.VA. |
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| FG Made-Att | 14-48 | 34-66 | ||||||||||||
| FG Percentage | 29.2% | 51.5% | ||||||||||||
| 3P Made-Att | 3-19 | 2-8 | ||||||||||||
| 3P Percentage | 15.8% | 25.0% | ||||||||||||
| FT Made-Att | 7-8 | 18-31 | ||||||||||||
| FT Percentage | 87.5% | 58.1% | ||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 26 | 49 | ||||||||||||
| Turnovers | 25 | 12 | ||||||||||||
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Fueled by a career-best 27 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore guard Sarah Miles, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team cruised past Mercyhurst, 88-38, this evening at the WVU Coliseum.
WVU, winners of five straight, improves to 6-1 on the season, while the Lakers fall to 1-2. Tonight’s contest marked the first-ever meeting between the two squads and WVU’s third-consecutive victory over a first-time opponent.
Miles’ line highlighted an impressive offensive night for the Mountaineers, as she finished 12 for 17 from the field and 3 for 6 from the free throw line in her first career double-double game.
“Sarah is athletic,” said Coach Mike Carey. “She just blew by the defense and showed that she is a great athlete.”
Three Mountaineers finished with double-digit scoring, as Liz Repella added 16 points, including a 7-for-10 showing from the charity stripe, and Dominique Dixon tossed in 11 points off the bench with a 4-for-5 effort from the field. Additionally, Ashley Powell matched a career best assist total, passing out 11 in 37 minutes of play.
“I thought Ashley Powell distributed the ball pretty well with 11 assists and four turnovers,” Carey says. “There are a lot of things that she could have forced on the break and didn’t, so let’s give her credit because she did a good job distributing the ball.”
WVU finished the game shooting 51.5 percent from the field, no doubt aided by its 48 in-paint points and 25 bench points. The Mountaineers also controlled the glass, out-rebounding Mercyhurst 49-26, including 17 defensive rebounds, which limited Mercyhurst to only four points off the second-chance effort.
WVU also dominated on defense, forcing Mercyhurst into 25 turnovers, which the team converted into 38 points.
Stephanie Prischak led Mercyhurst with 12 points. The Lakers shot 29.2 percent from the field and struggled to find the rim on many of their shots.
Miles was sensational in the first half, netting 21 points with a 10-for-13 effort from the field in 17 minutes of play.
Repella opened the game’s scoring with a layup at 19:29. The Mountaineers built on their early lead, racing out to a 26-point advantage on a Miles layup with 1:52 remaining. A 3-pointer from Mercyhurst’s Janeale Ronai with 56 ticks on the clock ushered WVU into its locker room at the half up 21 points, 42-21.
Powell’s clear view of the court helped the Mountaineers build their first-half lead, as she dished seven assists in 18 minutes.
Despite their first-half struggles, the Lakers opened the second stanza strong, scoring seven quick points, including a Prischak 3-pointer, by the first media break to bring the margin to within 19 points, 47-28.
That was as close as the Lakers would get, as WVU outscored Mercyhurst 41-10 over the game’s last 15:26.
WVU next hosts Duquesne Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
