Mountaineers Cruise
February 23, 2008 07:13 PM | General
February 23, 2008
BOX SCORE | COACHES' QUOTES | PHOTO GALLERY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Olayinka Sanni scored 21 points to lead four Mountaineer double-figure scorers as No. 13 West Virginia rolled to a 76-55 victory over the Villanova Wildcats Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
 |
||
| Chakhia Cole drives for two of her 11 points Saturday against Villanova.
AP photo |
The Mountaineers scored the first 11 points of the game and never looked back in cruising to their 11th win in 12 games. West Virginia had a 22-2 lead, holding the Wildcats scoreless until Laura Kurz made a lay up at the 13:11 mark of the first half. Villanova missed its first seven shots.
“I thought we came out in the first five minutes and shot the ball really well,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. “I thought our defense and our spacing was really good early. It was a total team effort today.”
The Wildcats did mount a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to 24-14 with 4:37 remaining in the first half before the Mountaineers closed the frame on an 8-2 surge to grab a 32-16 halftime advantage.
WVU did an excellent job early, switching screens and communicating defensively to completely shut down Villanova’s perimeter-oriented offense.
West Virginia (22-4, 11-2) shot 50 percent in the first half while hitting 5 of 8 from three-point distance. The Gold and Blue defense held a normally sharp-shooting Villanova team to a chilly 22.2 percent from the floor in the first half, including an ice-cold 2 of 13 from beyond the three-point arc.
The undersized Wildcats simply had no answer for Sanni down low as the Chicago Heights, Ill., native made 9 of her 15 shots from the field while grabbing six rebounds. Meg Bulger did an admirable job in her return to the starting lineup, scoring 12 points in the contest while nailing four of her five tries from 3.
Liz Repella continues to earn more minutes and her performance Saturday did nothing to change that trend. The Steubenville, Ohio, native scored 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the field, while nailing her only 3-point try.
Chakhia Cole was a jack of all trades for the Mountaineers once again, scoring 11 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists.
“So far this season, Chakhia Cole is our MVP. I can play her in any spot from the two to the five and she can score and defend from those spots,” Carey said. “She gives us a little bit of everything and she did that again today.”
West Virginia grabbed its largest lead of the game at 59-35 following a pair of Cole free throws with 8:30 left in the contest. The Mountaineers shot 50.9 percent for the game while making an impressive 7 of 10 tries from 3.
Villanova was held to just over 37 percent shooting. The Wildcats, who entered the game leading the Big East with just over 11 made 3s a game, connected on just 8 of 26 attempts from behind the arc.
“What hurts you the most with Villanova is their penetration. When they penetrate and kick to open shooters for 3s it is tough,” Carey said. “We stopped them from penetrating in the first half and in the second half we got a little tired and lackadaisical and they got some good looks. That is the toughest offense we will defend all year.”
WVU enjoyed a 38-22 edge in points in the paint and also got a 22 point effort from its bench.
Tia Grant and Kurz each scored 11 to lead Villanova (15-12, 5-9).
The Mountaineers return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 26, when they travel north to take on arch-rival Pitt. Tip-off from the Petersen Events Center is set for 8 p.m.
