Mountaineers Suffer Second Defeat
January 25, 2011 10:23 PM | General
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The eighth-ranked West Virginia women’s basketball team suffered its second loss of the season to Georgetown, 65-60, on Tuesday night at McDonough Arena.
The game came down to the final minute, both teams struggling to maintain a solid lead as the second half wound down. With 3:35 remaining, Madina Ali made a critical layup to tie the game at 60. Both teams would then play solid BIG EAST defense, refusing to give up any points until 1:07 remained, at which point Sugar Rodgers put the Hoyas (16-5, 4-3 BIG EAST) ahead 62-60. From there, the Mountaineers (19-2, 5-2 BIG EAST) were forced to foul both Rodgers and senior guard Monica McNutt, who combined for the remaining three points.
“Give them credit,” Coach Mike Carey said. “We stood outside when the game was on the line and took jump shots and they attacked the rim and got fouled and made their foul shots.”
Despite opening the second half with an 8-0 scoring run that culminated in a 36-35 lead on a 3-point shot from Vanessa House, West Virginia was unable to contain Georgetown’s offense. At one point, the Mountaineers had an eight point lead, 53-45. However, Sugar Rodgers led the Hoya offense by putting up 30 points, and Monica McNutt contributed 13 points of her own to help cut into every advantage the Mountaineers had. The second half saw West Virginia outscored 20-7 over the final ten minutes.
“We went up eight and started standing around,” said Carey. “When they went to the foul lines they made it and when we went to the foul lines, we missed them.”
Senior co-captain Liz Repella kept the Mountaineers in the game, scoring 20 points and hitting several shots from outside the arc to give the offense a boost. In addition to her double-digit scoring efforts, she also pulled down two rebounds and notched three steals.
Sarah Miles came in second on the team in scoring, with 14 points and five rebounds on the night. She also had four assists and four steals to go along with her own double-digit scoring effort. Ali rounded out the top three in scoring, putting up 12 points in only 25 minutes of play.
Offensively, the Mountaineers shot 54.1 percent (20-of-37) from the field and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from beyond the arc. Yet it was free throw shooting that hurt the team the most, as they shot only 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the charity stripe. In addition, costly turnovers and an early lack of offensive rebounding allowed Georgetown to capitalize and take the offensive advantage.
“You can’t win a tough game like that when a lot of fouls are called if you don’t make your foul shots,” Carey said.
The Mountaineers will play their second-straight game on the road on Sunday afternoon, where they will face No. 12 DePaul in a 4 p.m. tip at McGrath Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. MSNsportsNET.com will also provide live audio and stats, with Travis Jones on the call.
The game came down to the final minute, both teams struggling to maintain a solid lead as the second half wound down. With 3:35 remaining, Madina Ali made a critical layup to tie the game at 60. Both teams would then play solid BIG EAST defense, refusing to give up any points until 1:07 remained, at which point Sugar Rodgers put the Hoyas (16-5, 4-3 BIG EAST) ahead 62-60. From there, the Mountaineers (19-2, 5-2 BIG EAST) were forced to foul both Rodgers and senior guard Monica McNutt, who combined for the remaining three points.
“Give them credit,” Coach Mike Carey said. “We stood outside when the game was on the line and took jump shots and they attacked the rim and got fouled and made their foul shots.”
Despite opening the second half with an 8-0 scoring run that culminated in a 36-35 lead on a 3-point shot from Vanessa House, West Virginia was unable to contain Georgetown’s offense. At one point, the Mountaineers had an eight point lead, 53-45. However, Sugar Rodgers led the Hoya offense by putting up 30 points, and Monica McNutt contributed 13 points of her own to help cut into every advantage the Mountaineers had. The second half saw West Virginia outscored 20-7 over the final ten minutes.
“We went up eight and started standing around,” said Carey. “When they went to the foul lines they made it and when we went to the foul lines, we missed them.”
Senior co-captain Liz Repella kept the Mountaineers in the game, scoring 20 points and hitting several shots from outside the arc to give the offense a boost. In addition to her double-digit scoring efforts, she also pulled down two rebounds and notched three steals.
Sarah Miles came in second on the team in scoring, with 14 points and five rebounds on the night. She also had four assists and four steals to go along with her own double-digit scoring effort. Ali rounded out the top three in scoring, putting up 12 points in only 25 minutes of play.
Offensively, the Mountaineers shot 54.1 percent (20-of-37) from the field and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from beyond the arc. Yet it was free throw shooting that hurt the team the most, as they shot only 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the charity stripe. In addition, costly turnovers and an early lack of offensive rebounding allowed Georgetown to capitalize and take the offensive advantage.
“You can’t win a tough game like that when a lot of fouls are called if you don’t make your foul shots,” Carey said.
The Mountaineers will play their second-straight game on the road on Sunday afternoon, where they will face No. 12 DePaul in a 4 p.m. tip at McGrath Arena. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. MSNsportsNET.com will also provide live audio and stats, with Travis Jones on the call.
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