Mountaineers Down North Florida
December 10, 2011 03:15 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team earned its fourth straight win with an 86-30 victory over North Florida on Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum.
Coach Carey explained to his team after their win at Syracuse on Wednesday night that it wouldn’t matter that they had defeated the Orange if they couldn’t come out and earn the same result against North Florida.
The Mountaineers (7-2) responded to that message by scoring 41 first half points while nearly holding the Ospreys (2-6) to a national record-tying low of three first half points, last set by Tennessee State (3) against Georgia Tech (49) on Dec. 30, 2010.
In total, West Virginia only allowed nine North Florida first half points, amounting to the fewest first half points scored by an opponent at the Coliseum in the history of the women’s program. After the Ospreys sank a three at the 16:41 mark, the Mountaineers would not give up another field goal until just under one minute remained before the half.
“We switched well, we were active, we got after it, we showed well on ball picks and it caught them by surprise a little bit so they turned it over a lot,” Carey explained. “That first 10 or 15 minutes, we played well and got after it. To me, that was an extension of the Syracuse game. We came out and played hard the first 15 minutes and then we started played the score. We have to quit doing that. Same thing happened at Syracuse. We were up 16 and they cut it to two. We have got to learn to play with the lead and build on a lead. Those are things that we will continue to work on.”
For the second game in a row, four Mountaineers scored in double-figures. Sophomore Taylor Palmer led the team with 16 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field. She was followed by redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning who nearly earned her second consecutive and career double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
“Yaya played hard,” Carey said. “She has a lot of confidence right now. She rebounds well for us and now she is starting to score. If we can continue to get that from her, that is going to be great.”
Behind Dunning, sophomore Brooke Hampton and freshman Akilah Bethel rounded out the top scorers, each ending the game with 10 points.
Overall, West Virginia held North Florida to a mere 26.2 percent (11-of-42) from the field, 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from beyond the arc and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from the foul line.
In comparison, the Mountaineers shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the field, 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from 3-point range and 76 percent (19-of-25) from the stripe.
Additionally, West Virginia’s defense forced 28 turnovers from the Ospreys, from which the team was able to score 29 points. Twelve of those turnovers were steals, with Dunning and Jess Harlee leading the team, each having made three steals.
Freshman Destinee Smith scored eight points to lead North Florida. Redshirt-junior Fabiola Josil and senior Brittany Kirkland rounded out the top three scorers with six points each.
West Virginia returns to action at Duquesne on Saturday, Dec. 17. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., with live stats provided by MSNsportsNET.com.
Coach Carey explained to his team after their win at Syracuse on Wednesday night that it wouldn’t matter that they had defeated the Orange if they couldn’t come out and earn the same result against North Florida.
The Mountaineers (7-2) responded to that message by scoring 41 first half points while nearly holding the Ospreys (2-6) to a national record-tying low of three first half points, last set by Tennessee State (3) against Georgia Tech (49) on Dec. 30, 2010.
In total, West Virginia only allowed nine North Florida first half points, amounting to the fewest first half points scored by an opponent at the Coliseum in the history of the women’s program. After the Ospreys sank a three at the 16:41 mark, the Mountaineers would not give up another field goal until just under one minute remained before the half.
“We switched well, we were active, we got after it, we showed well on ball picks and it caught them by surprise a little bit so they turned it over a lot,” Carey explained. “That first 10 or 15 minutes, we played well and got after it. To me, that was an extension of the Syracuse game. We came out and played hard the first 15 minutes and then we started played the score. We have to quit doing that. Same thing happened at Syracuse. We were up 16 and they cut it to two. We have got to learn to play with the lead and build on a lead. Those are things that we will continue to work on.”
For the second game in a row, four Mountaineers scored in double-figures. Sophomore Taylor Palmer led the team with 16 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field. She was followed by redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning who nearly earned her second consecutive and career double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds in 18 minutes of play.
“Yaya played hard,” Carey said. “She has a lot of confidence right now. She rebounds well for us and now she is starting to score. If we can continue to get that from her, that is going to be great.”
Behind Dunning, sophomore Brooke Hampton and freshman Akilah Bethel rounded out the top scorers, each ending the game with 10 points.
Overall, West Virginia held North Florida to a mere 26.2 percent (11-of-42) from the field, 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from beyond the arc and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from the foul line.
In comparison, the Mountaineers shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the field, 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from 3-point range and 76 percent (19-of-25) from the stripe.
Additionally, West Virginia’s defense forced 28 turnovers from the Ospreys, from which the team was able to score 29 points. Twelve of those turnovers were steals, with Dunning and Jess Harlee leading the team, each having made three steals.
Freshman Destinee Smith scored eight points to lead North Florida. Redshirt-junior Fabiola Josil and senior Brittany Kirkland rounded out the top three scorers with six points each.
West Virginia returns to action at Duquesne on Saturday, Dec. 17. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., with live stats provided by MSNsportsNET.com.
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