Women's Basketball: Mountaineers Host Prairie View
December 10, 2010 02:14 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The ninth-ranked West Virginia women’s basketball team returns to non-conference play on Saturday afternoon, hosting SWAC opponent Prairie View A&M at the WVU Coliseum, with tipoff set for 2 p.m.
The Panthers (4-3) have a tough task ahead of them, as the Mountaineers (9-0, 1-0 BE) are in the midst of their best start since 2004-05, when they also went 9-0 to open the season. West Virginia is also looking to extend its home winning streak to 25 games, which would continue to set the school record for most consecutive wins at the WVU Coliseum.
To top it all off, the Mountaineers have a dominating 57-3 record at home over non-conference opponents, and are 106-25 all-time at home under the direction of head coach Mike Carey.
West Virginia is coming off of a hard fought Thursday night win on the road against BIG EAST foe Villanova, and will look to its co-captains Liz Repella and Madina Ali to lead the team yet again. Repella led the team in scoring against Villanova in the Mountaineers’ 39-36 win, with 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Currently, Repella and Ali average 13.9 and 13.8 points per game, respectively, with Repella also leading the team in steals, with 22.
Defensively, the Mountaineers average 12.6 steals per game, 5.4 blocks per game, and have forced 210 total turnovers, while only giving up 162 of their own. They also average 40.9 rebounds per game, pulling down 11 more rebounds on average than their opponent. Asya Bussie currently leads the team in blocks with 15, while Ali leads the team in rebounding, having collected 65 boards so far. Korinne Campbell has also provided a boost on defense, currently averaging five rebounds per game, while collecting 10 steals and three blocks on the season.
Prairie A&M comes into the Coliseum riding a two-game winning streak, having recently defeated Long Beach State and Louisiana-Monroe to win the Gene Hackerman Invitational in Houston, Texas. Senior guard Dominique Smith led the Panthers’ offensive efforts in both games as she combined for 38 points in the contests. Against Long Beach State, senior forward Robin Jones recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard Siara Soliz currently leads the Panthers in scoring, averaging 12.3 points per game while also leading the team in 3-point field goals, with 14. Redshirt sophomore guard Latia Williams rounds out the top four players in scoring, averaging 10.6 points per game while also picking up an average of 7.7 rebounds per game.
Expected starters for the Mountaineers include Repella and true freshman Brooke Hampton at guard, Bussie at center, and Campbell and Ali at forward.
The first meeting between the teams, the game is a “Dairy Mart Dollar Day” as fans can stop by any Morgantown area Dairy Mart to pick up a coupon good for one dollar admission to the contest. In addition, the first 2,500 fans in attendance will also receive pom-poms, and free admission will be given to members of the military as well as grandparents who redeem a free voucher to the game. The voucher can be accessed by viewing the team's promotion page and downloading the brochure located in the Prairie View A&M bracket.
The game will be streamed live on MSNsportsNet.com, and a live radio broadcast will be also be offered with Travis Jones and Jay Jacobs on the call.
The Panthers (4-3) have a tough task ahead of them, as the Mountaineers (9-0, 1-0 BE) are in the midst of their best start since 2004-05, when they also went 9-0 to open the season. West Virginia is also looking to extend its home winning streak to 25 games, which would continue to set the school record for most consecutive wins at the WVU Coliseum.
To top it all off, the Mountaineers have a dominating 57-3 record at home over non-conference opponents, and are 106-25 all-time at home under the direction of head coach Mike Carey.
West Virginia is coming off of a hard fought Thursday night win on the road against BIG EAST foe Villanova, and will look to its co-captains Liz Repella and Madina Ali to lead the team yet again. Repella led the team in scoring against Villanova in the Mountaineers’ 39-36 win, with 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Currently, Repella and Ali average 13.9 and 13.8 points per game, respectively, with Repella also leading the team in steals, with 22.
Defensively, the Mountaineers average 12.6 steals per game, 5.4 blocks per game, and have forced 210 total turnovers, while only giving up 162 of their own. They also average 40.9 rebounds per game, pulling down 11 more rebounds on average than their opponent. Asya Bussie currently leads the team in blocks with 15, while Ali leads the team in rebounding, having collected 65 boards so far. Korinne Campbell has also provided a boost on defense, currently averaging five rebounds per game, while collecting 10 steals and three blocks on the season.
Prairie A&M comes into the Coliseum riding a two-game winning streak, having recently defeated Long Beach State and Louisiana-Monroe to win the Gene Hackerman Invitational in Houston, Texas. Senior guard Dominique Smith led the Panthers’ offensive efforts in both games as she combined for 38 points in the contests. Against Long Beach State, senior forward Robin Jones recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard Siara Soliz currently leads the Panthers in scoring, averaging 12.3 points per game while also leading the team in 3-point field goals, with 14. Redshirt sophomore guard Latia Williams rounds out the top four players in scoring, averaging 10.6 points per game while also picking up an average of 7.7 rebounds per game.
Expected starters for the Mountaineers include Repella and true freshman Brooke Hampton at guard, Bussie at center, and Campbell and Ali at forward.
The first meeting between the teams, the game is a “Dairy Mart Dollar Day” as fans can stop by any Morgantown area Dairy Mart to pick up a coupon good for one dollar admission to the contest. In addition, the first 2,500 fans in attendance will also receive pom-poms, and free admission will be given to members of the military as well as grandparents who redeem a free voucher to the game. The voucher can be accessed by viewing the team's promotion page and downloading the brochure located in the Prairie View A&M bracket.
The game will be streamed live on MSNsportsNet.com, and a live radio broadcast will be also be offered with Travis Jones and Jay Jacobs on the call.
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