Women's Basketball: WVU Travels to California
November 23, 2011 03:37 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – For the West Virginia women’s basketball team, Friday night’s 8 p.m. tipoff against No. 25 UCLA won’t mark the first meeting between the teams. They’ve met twice previously, in 1991 and 1999, UCLA emerging with the win on both occasions.
“It's early in the season and we need to play this caliber of team to see where we're at,” coach Carey said. “It will be interesting to see and will be on a neutral floor, which will be good. We definitely would like to come out of there 2-0. We're looking to beat UCLA and see who we play the next game.”
It will be the first time the Mountaineers (2-1) have faced the Bruins (2-1) under coach Carey. While the matchup on paper undoubtedly favors UCLA, there are some similarities between the two teams that suggest the game may not be as one-sided as people would think.
For starters, both teams currently hold 2-1 overall records. And both teams advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year before being eliminated. For the Bruins, it was Gonzaga that ended the season, 89-75. For West Virginia, it was a talented Baylor squad that prevented the Mountaineers from advancing, winning the second round game, 82-68.
Interestingly enough, UCLA’s only loss so far this season came to Baylor during the preseason WNIT Tournament. The Bears defeated the Bruins in a semifinal game, 83-50.
Additionally, two starters return to UCLA’s line-up in junior forward/guard Markel Walker and junior forward Atonye Nyingifa. Nyingifa most recently posted a double-double against Baylor with 16 points and 14 rebounds. She’s currently the second-leading scorer for the Bruins with 12.7 points per game, and leads all rebounding with 10.7 rebounds per game.
One starter returns to WVU’s line-up this year in junior center Asya Bussie. However, sophomore guard Brooke Hampton earned nine starts last year and played in 33 games as a true freshman.
Hampton currently averages 5.0 points per game and 6.0 assists per game. Bussie is the team’s fourth-leading scorer with 9.3 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game and 2.5 blocks per game. She’s now only four blocks away from the No. 3 spot in WVU’s career blocked shots record book.
The Bruins are led in scoring by senior guard Rebekah Gardner, who’s averaging 15.0 points per game, and is coming off of a personal best 21 points and 10 rebounds against Baylor. Sophomore guard Thea Lemberger rounds out the top three scorers, with 11.0 points per game.
“They're very athletic,” said Carey. “They are about 6-3 inside with two 6-3 players who are very active. They can shoot and can take it off the dribble. Their guards are very impressive, both offensively and defensively. I have a feeling this game is going to come down to us making some shots.”
For the Mountaineers to make those shots, sophomore guard Taylor Palmer will need to have another solid game. She currently leads the Mountaineers in scoring, averaging 18.7 points per game. In the season-opener against Youngstown State, Palmer sank a career-best eight 3-pointers on her way to a career-best 33 point performance.
Palmer is followed by sophomore forward Jess Harlee who is averaging 10.7 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game. Redshirt-sophomore guard Christal Caldwell rounds out the top three scorers with 10.3 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Defensively, the Mountaineers have held all of their opponents this year to under 60 points, with the scoring defense only allowing 39.0 points per game. The team holds the league’s best defensive field goal percentage, limiting opponents to only 23.7 points from the field.
Redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning leads the team’s rebounding efforts, having pulled down 15 boards against Youngstown State and 10 boards against St. Bonaventure. She’s currently tied for third in the league in rebounding with an average of 10 rebounds per game.
“We are not where we need to be, but we are closer defensively than we are offensively,” Carey said. “They're a good team. We're going to have to defend and hopefully we can get some shots and it should be a good game.”
The game marks the first of two contests for the Mountaineers during the weekend’s Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Basketball Classic. On Saturday, West Virginia will take on either Cal State Northridge or Colgate at 8 or 10:30 p.m.
Live stats for Friday’s game will be provided by MSNsportsNET.com.
“It's early in the season and we need to play this caliber of team to see where we're at,” coach Carey said. “It will be interesting to see and will be on a neutral floor, which will be good. We definitely would like to come out of there 2-0. We're looking to beat UCLA and see who we play the next game.”
It will be the first time the Mountaineers (2-1) have faced the Bruins (2-1) under coach Carey. While the matchup on paper undoubtedly favors UCLA, there are some similarities between the two teams that suggest the game may not be as one-sided as people would think.
For starters, both teams currently hold 2-1 overall records. And both teams advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year before being eliminated. For the Bruins, it was Gonzaga that ended the season, 89-75. For West Virginia, it was a talented Baylor squad that prevented the Mountaineers from advancing, winning the second round game, 82-68.
Interestingly enough, UCLA’s only loss so far this season came to Baylor during the preseason WNIT Tournament. The Bears defeated the Bruins in a semifinal game, 83-50.
Additionally, two starters return to UCLA’s line-up in junior forward/guard Markel Walker and junior forward Atonye Nyingifa. Nyingifa most recently posted a double-double against Baylor with 16 points and 14 rebounds. She’s currently the second-leading scorer for the Bruins with 12.7 points per game, and leads all rebounding with 10.7 rebounds per game.
One starter returns to WVU’s line-up this year in junior center Asya Bussie. However, sophomore guard Brooke Hampton earned nine starts last year and played in 33 games as a true freshman.
Hampton currently averages 5.0 points per game and 6.0 assists per game. Bussie is the team’s fourth-leading scorer with 9.3 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game and 2.5 blocks per game. She’s now only four blocks away from the No. 3 spot in WVU’s career blocked shots record book.
The Bruins are led in scoring by senior guard Rebekah Gardner, who’s averaging 15.0 points per game, and is coming off of a personal best 21 points and 10 rebounds against Baylor. Sophomore guard Thea Lemberger rounds out the top three scorers, with 11.0 points per game.
“They're very athletic,” said Carey. “They are about 6-3 inside with two 6-3 players who are very active. They can shoot and can take it off the dribble. Their guards are very impressive, both offensively and defensively. I have a feeling this game is going to come down to us making some shots.”
For the Mountaineers to make those shots, sophomore guard Taylor Palmer will need to have another solid game. She currently leads the Mountaineers in scoring, averaging 18.7 points per game. In the season-opener against Youngstown State, Palmer sank a career-best eight 3-pointers on her way to a career-best 33 point performance.
Palmer is followed by sophomore forward Jess Harlee who is averaging 10.7 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game. Redshirt-sophomore guard Christal Caldwell rounds out the top three scorers with 10.3 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Defensively, the Mountaineers have held all of their opponents this year to under 60 points, with the scoring defense only allowing 39.0 points per game. The team holds the league’s best defensive field goal percentage, limiting opponents to only 23.7 points from the field.
Redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning leads the team’s rebounding efforts, having pulled down 15 boards against Youngstown State and 10 boards against St. Bonaventure. She’s currently tied for third in the league in rebounding with an average of 10 rebounds per game.
“We are not where we need to be, but we are closer defensively than we are offensively,” Carey said. “They're a good team. We're going to have to defend and hopefully we can get some shots and it should be a good game.”
The game marks the first of two contests for the Mountaineers during the weekend’s Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Basketball Classic. On Saturday, West Virginia will take on either Cal State Northridge or Colgate at 8 or 10:30 p.m.
Live stats for Friday’s game will be provided by MSNsportsNET.com.
Mountaineer Invitational Recap
Thursday, April 16
College Basketball Crown Recap
Thursday, April 16
Andrew Powdrell | April 15
Thursday, April 16
Coach Pat Kirkland | April 15
Thursday, April 16
