WVU to Host Pitt
February 24, 2009 01:05 PM | General
February 24, 2009
PITT GAME NOTES
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| Liz Repella |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After losing its first five BIG EAST contests, the West Virginia women’s basketball team has had a significant rebound winning three of the last five conference games.
The Mountaineers (15-11, 4-9) are looking to continue that success and grab their second straight BIG EAST win as they play host to Pitt tonight at the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia is coming off a 90-75 victory over South Florida last Saturday in front of the third largest crowd to witness a women’s basketball game at the WVU Coliseum (6,232). Sophomore Liz Repella led the Mountaineers with a career-high 34 points. The Steubenville, Ohio, native was 10-of-17 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. She also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Senior leader and point guard Ashley Powell also had a huge game, scoring a career-best 19 points while dishing out seven assists and pulling down nine boards.
Pitt (20-5, 10-3) is ranked No. 22 in the latest Coaches poll and is as high as No. 15 in the AP poll. The Panthers were last in action against Cincinnati on Saturday where they used a 14-0 run in the second half and overcame a sub-par performance to defeat the Bearcats, 68-53. Seniors Shavonte Zellous and Xenia Stewart scored 16 points apiece en route to Pitt’s fourth consecutive 20-win season.
Zellous currently has 2,078 career points and needs 26 more to become the only player in Pitt history to score 600-plus points in three separate seasons.
This season, Zellous is averaging 23.0 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game, while Stewart is averaging 11.5 points per game and pulls down 4.1 rebounds per game.
Earlier in the year, the two teams played at the Petersen Events Center with Pitt taking a 72-63 victory. Both teams had a great night from the floor with WVU shooting 41.4 percent and Pitt shooting 40.7 percent.
Three Mountaineers scored double-digits with senior Takisha Granberry leading the way with 22 points and adding eight rebounds. Repella added 18 points and sophomore Sarah Miles had 12 points.
For the Panthers, Zellous led the way with 34 points, her second-best performance all season. Stewart was the only other player in double-digits from Pitt with 12 points. Six other Panther players added points in the win.
All-time West Virginia leads the series 21-16 and is 11-5 when the game is played in Morgantown. Pitt is the only team the Mountaineers will play twice this season.
Tip off is set for 8 p.m. and fans can follow the MSN broadcast live on the internet through CBS College Sports.
