West Virginia Stifles Towson
November 13, 2009 08:54 PM | General
November 13, 2009
PHOTOS
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A dominant defensive start by the West Virginia women’s basketball team propelled it to a 79-42 victory over Towson on Friday evening in a Preseason WNIT first-round matchup in front of 3,581 fans at the WVU Coliseum.
“I wanted to thank the fans for coming out,” said WVU coach Mike Carey. “It was a great crowd and it really helped us get it going. Hopefully we have another home game, and we want the same crowd. That really helps us.”
The Mountaineers went on a 41-8 run to take a 43-13 halftime lead, which included holding the Tigers scoreless for the last 11:40. Employing a hard-nosed man-to-man defense, WVU forced 22 turnovers while racking up 31 points off Towson’s miscues.
Towson shot just 30 percent (15 of 50) from the floor, while WVU’s hot offensive start in the first half allowed it to shoot 45.9 percent (28 of 61) for the contest. All five starters for the Mountaineers scored in double figures, highlighted by Liz Repella’s team-high 17-point performance.
“I thought we came out and played well with a lot of energy,” Carey added. “We struggled to score in the beginning but our defense was there. I liked what we had in scoring, having five girls in double figures – that’s what we have to do. We’d love to do that this year – have four or five double-figure scorers every game so they can’t key on one player.”
Offensively, West Virginia was in sync throughout the night. Point guard Sarah Miles was the catalyst for the Mountaineers’ transition game, notching 12 points on 6 of 10 from the floor while passing out a career-high nine assists. Often handling the ball in transition, Miles led the Mountaineers to an 18-2 advantage in fast break points.
Junior Korinne Campbell had a double-double in her regular-season debut, scoring 12 points and pulling down a team-best 11 boards, including seven on the offensive glass. Freshman center Asya Bussie also had a welcoming debut, tallying 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds.
Redshirt junior forward Madina Ali rounded out the WVU scorers with 10 points and six rebounds. The Williamsport, Pa., native’s aggressive play inside helped give the Mountaineers a 44-16 advantage on points in the paint.
“She just crashed the boards,” Carey said of Campbell. “Madina Ali would have had a double-double but she got in foul trouble early. We’re bigger and we’re pretty athletic. Asya ran the floor well at center. I thought at times when we had Akeema (Richards) and Sarah together, it made us quick on the break.”
Using an attacking offense that created many drives to the basket, WVU attempted 29 free throws, converting on 19 with Repella and Campbell leading the team by going 6 of 8 apiece.
WVU shot a blistering 56.3 percent from the field (18 of 32) in the first half and forced 14 Towson turnovers in taking a 30-point first half lead.
WVU extended its lead to 19-8 in the early going on a Bussie fast break layup and a 3-pointer from Repella with 8:23 left in the game. WVU’s defense held Towson to just 3 of 13 shooting with 10 minutes to go in the first half.
Ali’s layup with 14:50 left in the first half gave WVU its first lead of the game at 6-5 and extended it to 10-5 on a layup from Repella at the 13:35 mark.
Towson led 5-4 with 15:39 left in the first half as both teams overcame early struggles; the Tigers committed four early turnovers and WVU sought its offensive rhythm.
WVU returns with either a home WNIT second round matchup against Marist on Monday, or a Sunday contest on the road against the Red Foxes. Time and location will be announced later this evening.
Game Notes: Liz Repella and Sarah Miles made their team-leading 34th career starts … the starts are also all consecutive … Repella notched her team-leading 34th 10-point game of her career … Repella’s first 3-pointer of the game moved her into sole possession of 13th place on WVU’s career 3-point field goals made list (78) … tonight’s attendance was the seventh-largest in Coliseum history … WVU improves to 44-3 all-time in non-conference home games under Mike Carey … WVU is now 22-15 all-time in season-openers and 7-2 under Carey.
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Photo by Bob Williams
