Mountaineers Prepare for Boston
December 02, 2011 04:34 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – In practice Thursday, the West Virginia women’s basketball team spent a lot of time going over film. First, they reviewed the second half of their win against La Salle on Wednesday night. Then, they scouted Boston, as they will host them on Saturday in a 4 p.m. tip.
And what they saw was a team that will most likely present them with a challenge.
“Boston has very good guards,” coach Carey explained. “They’re not very deep, but their top six or seven players are pretty good. They beat Providence and have beaten some other good teams. We’re going to have to play; this team has guards and a couple of good post players so it’s going to be a good matchup.”
It seems as though the Mountaineers (4-2) have a different area of the game to focus on each and every time it takes to the court. For Saturday, the team is hoping to avoid a weakness of getting off to slow starts, both at the beginning of regulation and after the half.
They know that starting slow can’t happen once BIG EAST competition starts in January.
“When we get into the BIG EAST, we can’t start out that slow,” Carey emphasized. “You’re liable to be down 15-2 if you start out slow in the BIG EAST. We have to really make an effort to not start out slow in the beginning of the game and during the second half.”
West Virginia will play in its only conference game of December at Syracuse on Wednesday, Dec. 7. But first, the team needs to focus on Boston and its three double-digit scorers.
Senior guard Alex Young leads the Terriers (3-3) in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game. She’s followed by junior guard Chantell Alford who’s scoring 13.3 points per game, and junior guard Mo Moran who averages 11.5.
Alford and Moran currently combine for 57 percent (41-of-72) of the Terriers’ assists, and 66 percent (35-of-53) of their steals.
Defensively, sophomore forward Rashidat Agboola leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per game and six blocks on the season.
Boston is still looking for its first road win. After opening with a 65-62 win at home against Providence, the team has struggled on the road, dropping contests to Massachusetts, Richmond and Harvard.
For the Mountaineers, sophomore Taylor Palmer has provided a necessary spark for the offense. She’s led the team in scoring in five of six games this season, four of those ending in double-digit performances. She currently averages 18.7 points per game, and leads in 3-point shooting as she is 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from beyond the arc.
She holds the fourth-highest 3-point field goals per game average in the nation at 3.8 per game.
Behind Palmer, junior Asya Bussie averages 10.8 points per game while redshirt-sophomore Christal Caldwall averages 7.2.
Defensively, redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning averages 7.8 rebounds per game, good enough to rank 11th in the BIG EAST. Sophomore Jess Harlee averages 7.3 rebounds per game, having led WVU in rebounding in three games so far this season.
Additionally, the team has held all six opponents this season to under 60 points, and its 45.2 points per game allowed is the fourth-best average in the nation.
Saturday’s contest is Carey’s Crew Day with the first 1,000 fans to enter receiving mustaches.
Live stats and video streaming of the game will be provided by MSNsportsNet.com.
And what they saw was a team that will most likely present them with a challenge.
“Boston has very good guards,” coach Carey explained. “They’re not very deep, but their top six or seven players are pretty good. They beat Providence and have beaten some other good teams. We’re going to have to play; this team has guards and a couple of good post players so it’s going to be a good matchup.”
It seems as though the Mountaineers (4-2) have a different area of the game to focus on each and every time it takes to the court. For Saturday, the team is hoping to avoid a weakness of getting off to slow starts, both at the beginning of regulation and after the half.
They know that starting slow can’t happen once BIG EAST competition starts in January.
“When we get into the BIG EAST, we can’t start out that slow,” Carey emphasized. “You’re liable to be down 15-2 if you start out slow in the BIG EAST. We have to really make an effort to not start out slow in the beginning of the game and during the second half.”
West Virginia will play in its only conference game of December at Syracuse on Wednesday, Dec. 7. But first, the team needs to focus on Boston and its three double-digit scorers.
Senior guard Alex Young leads the Terriers (3-3) in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game. She’s followed by junior guard Chantell Alford who’s scoring 13.3 points per game, and junior guard Mo Moran who averages 11.5.
Alford and Moran currently combine for 57 percent (41-of-72) of the Terriers’ assists, and 66 percent (35-of-53) of their steals.
Defensively, sophomore forward Rashidat Agboola leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per game and six blocks on the season.
Boston is still looking for its first road win. After opening with a 65-62 win at home against Providence, the team has struggled on the road, dropping contests to Massachusetts, Richmond and Harvard.
For the Mountaineers, sophomore Taylor Palmer has provided a necessary spark for the offense. She’s led the team in scoring in five of six games this season, four of those ending in double-digit performances. She currently averages 18.7 points per game, and leads in 3-point shooting as she is 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from beyond the arc.
She holds the fourth-highest 3-point field goals per game average in the nation at 3.8 per game.
Behind Palmer, junior Asya Bussie averages 10.8 points per game while redshirt-sophomore Christal Caldwall averages 7.2.
Defensively, redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning averages 7.8 rebounds per game, good enough to rank 11th in the BIG EAST. Sophomore Jess Harlee averages 7.3 rebounds per game, having led WVU in rebounding in three games so far this season.
Additionally, the team has held all six opponents this season to under 60 points, and its 45.2 points per game allowed is the fourth-best average in the nation.
Saturday’s contest is Carey’s Crew Day with the first 1,000 fans to enter receiving mustaches.
Live stats and video streaming of the game will be provided by MSNsportsNet.com.
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