West Virginia Welcomes DePaul
January 08, 2010 03:16 PM | General
January 8, 2010
WEST VIRGINIA GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 17th-ranked West Virginia University women’s basketball team has another tough test on Saturday afternoon when it faces conference foe DePaul at 2 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum. The game will be televised on WVPBS.
The Mountaineers (14-1, 2-0) are looking to get over the hump against the Blue Demons (12-4. 1-1), having lost to them the last three tries. West Virginia nearly snapped its streak against DePaul in last season’s 75-72 overtime loss in the second round of the Big East Championship.
 |
|
| Junior Liz Repella leads the Mountaineers with 15.5 points per game.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
Saturday’s game is of great importance for the Mountaineers in several ways. West Virginia is looking for just it’s second 3-0 start in Big East play, and hopes to exploit its set of early home games in conference play.
“I thought that was big,” Carey said of having three straight conference home games early. “My biggest concern was that we were home for a month and then we had to go on the road to St. John’s. Once we got past that we have three consecutive home games. You have to take care of things at your home site. It’s very important we take care of here before we go on the road again.”
The ninth-year coach has led the Mountaineers to their best 15-game start in school history. Despite being one of eight schools to carry no seniors, West Virginia has been able to make plays when necessary down the stretch. In its first two Big East games, WVU has won two defensive battles against St. John’s and No. 22 Pitt by hitting its free throws late in the game.
Against the Red Storm, point guard Sarah Miles iced the contest with a free throw with 2.2 seconds left to preserve a 54-50 win. The Mountaineers then went 5 of 6 from the charity stripe in the final 23 seconds to come away with a 63-59 victory over the Panthers.
Despite performing well from the free throw line when it matters most, Carey hopes to see more overall consistency.
“We work on foul shots everyday. The one thing I can say is the St. John’s and Pitt games we made our shots down the stretch when they counted,” Carey added. “Eventually it will catch up to you so we have to start making our foul shots. All we can do is continue to work on it.”
Junior guard Liz Repella continues to pace the Mountaineers with 15.5 points per game, including 14 double-figure scoring performances. Freshman center Asya Bussie is becoming acclimated to the rigors of conference play, leading the Big East with 30 blocks to go along with her 12.1 scoring average.
West Virginia will need big games out of both players if it wants to defeat a team that was ranked in the Top 25 in the preseason. DePaul, led by junior guard Sam Quigley, defeated Louisville, 76-70, in overtime in its last game, and owns an impressive 75-60 win over then-No. 10 Florida State in Las Vegas, Nev.
“They’re well-coached, they’re a good basketball team and they spread you out and run up and down the floor extremely well,” Carey mentioned. “The keys to this game are stopping the dribble penetration, contesting three’s and getting back on defense because they get out.”
Quigley averages a team-best 13.4 points per game, and was MVP of the “Dual in the Desert” Tournament in which DePaul defeated Arkansas, FSU and UNLV. Her sister, Allie, scored 12 points in DePaul’s last game at the WVU Coliseum, an 81-80 win on Feb. 16, 2008, in front of a record crowd of 8,307 on “Think Pink” day.
Sophomore forward Keisha Hampton is averaging 13 points and six rebounds per game, while forward Felicia Chester is pulling a team-best 7.5 boards. Senior Deirdre Naughton, arguably the team’s best all-around player, tore her anterior cruciate ligament against Northwestern on Nov. 24 and will miss the remainder of the season.
“She was a great player for them,” Carey said of Naughton. “They’re playing very well. They have Keisha Hampton who is playing well, and Quigley. Those players are as good as anybody in the conference. They have some key players that can really hurt you.
“Quigley is good at the three and also off the dribble. She sets up a lot of her players for wide open shots.”
West Virginia has grinded out its two conference games on the strength of its defense. With Bussie anchoring the middle and versatile forward Korinne Campbell snatching rebounds and defending the perimeter, the Mountaineers are holding the opposition to 49.8 points per game and 33.1 percent from the field, both third-best marks in the Big East.
However, Carey is weary of DePaul’s ability to shoot well with its variety of options. The Blue Demons are averaging 71 points, a shade above WVU’s 69.5 average.
“They can go big and sometimes they do. Their other 6’3 girl is more of a four,” Carey said. “She’ll go inside and post but she’s more face-up. They have very good guards who often shoot it and penetrate also. We’re going to have to close up the gaps, unlike what we did against Pitt’s point guard.
“We’ve got to take chances, close up and make Quigley kick the ball out. If they do that then hopefully they won’t hit their three’s.”
Saturday's game is a Dairy Mart Dollar Day. Fans can stop by any local Dairy Mart to get a $1 coupon for admission for the game.
