Mountaineers Roll Past Elon
December 31, 2011 05:09 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – With double-figure scoring performances from three Mountaineers, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team rolled past Elon, 84-36, at the Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
The Phoenix (6-7) scored first on a layup from senior guard Aiesha Harper. But a foul committed on West Virginia sophomore Christal Caldwell followed by a three from sophomore Taylor Palmer and a layup from junior Ayana Dunning quickly settled things down early in favor of the Mountaineers (10-3).
A dominant rebounding performance from West Virginia also helped them control the game, as they out-rebounded Elon, 55 rebounds to 30, by the end of the game. A total of 26 offensive rebounds from the Mountaineers contributed to 22 second chance points.
Additionally, Elon turned the ball over 30 times allowing West Virginia to score 33 points from turnovers alone.
Dunning earned her second double-double of the season in the contest, scoring 20 points and pulling down a team-leading 15 rebounds for the Mountaineers in just 24 minutes of play.
“When Yaya goes after a rebound, not many people are going to take it from her,” said Coach Carey. “She goes and snatches that rebound.”
Caldwell tied Dunning’s scoring performance, posting a career-high 20 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds to earn her first career double-double in the win.
“Christal Caldwell and Yaya Dunning both played well needless to say,” Carey said. “They both rebounded the ball well and they both scored well so I was happy with that.
“This is three games in a row that I have really felt like she (Caldwell) was doing what we thought she could do. We are real happy. That gives us another scorer, and having another scorer from the perimeter really helps us.”
Sophomore Jess Harlee rounded out the top three scorers with 10 points against the Phoenix.
Defensively, the Mountaineers limited the Phoenix to 26.7 percent (12-of-45) shooting from the field, 27.3 percent (3-of-11) shooting from beyond the arc and to 56.3 percent (9-of-16) shooting from the free throw line.
In comparison, West Virginia shot 44.3 percent (35-of-79) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from 3-point range and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the charity stripe.
Junior guard Ali Ford and freshman guard Zora Stephenson led Elon in scoring, each posting seven points.
The Mountaineers next travel to face No. 2 Connecticut at the XL Center in Hartford on Wednesday Jan. 4th.
Always a big game for both teams, Carey is well aware of the challenge the game will present for the Mountaineers.
“I always like to play a team like that early because it is kind of hard when you are on a two, three game win streak and you have to go play a team like that with a young team,” he said. “It’s good that we are playing them on the road. There is no doubt that we will go out and compete.
“I expect us to go up there and be focused and play hard and not be intimidated,” he continued. “Our girls play hard and our girls will go out and compete; that is why you play the game. Anything can happen. We are going up there to win the game; we are not going up there to just show up.”
Live stats and audio for Wednesday’s game will be provided by MSNsportsNET.com.
The Phoenix (6-7) scored first on a layup from senior guard Aiesha Harper. But a foul committed on West Virginia sophomore Christal Caldwell followed by a three from sophomore Taylor Palmer and a layup from junior Ayana Dunning quickly settled things down early in favor of the Mountaineers (10-3).
A dominant rebounding performance from West Virginia also helped them control the game, as they out-rebounded Elon, 55 rebounds to 30, by the end of the game. A total of 26 offensive rebounds from the Mountaineers contributed to 22 second chance points.
Additionally, Elon turned the ball over 30 times allowing West Virginia to score 33 points from turnovers alone.
Dunning earned her second double-double of the season in the contest, scoring 20 points and pulling down a team-leading 15 rebounds for the Mountaineers in just 24 minutes of play.
“When Yaya goes after a rebound, not many people are going to take it from her,” said Coach Carey. “She goes and snatches that rebound.”
Caldwell tied Dunning’s scoring performance, posting a career-high 20 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds to earn her first career double-double in the win.
“Christal Caldwell and Yaya Dunning both played well needless to say,” Carey said. “They both rebounded the ball well and they both scored well so I was happy with that.
“This is three games in a row that I have really felt like she (Caldwell) was doing what we thought she could do. We are real happy. That gives us another scorer, and having another scorer from the perimeter really helps us.”
Sophomore Jess Harlee rounded out the top three scorers with 10 points against the Phoenix.
Defensively, the Mountaineers limited the Phoenix to 26.7 percent (12-of-45) shooting from the field, 27.3 percent (3-of-11) shooting from beyond the arc and to 56.3 percent (9-of-16) shooting from the free throw line.
In comparison, West Virginia shot 44.3 percent (35-of-79) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from 3-point range and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the charity stripe.
Junior guard Ali Ford and freshman guard Zora Stephenson led Elon in scoring, each posting seven points.
The Mountaineers next travel to face No. 2 Connecticut at the XL Center in Hartford on Wednesday Jan. 4th.
Always a big game for both teams, Carey is well aware of the challenge the game will present for the Mountaineers.
“I always like to play a team like that early because it is kind of hard when you are on a two, three game win streak and you have to go play a team like that with a young team,” he said. “It’s good that we are playing them on the road. There is no doubt that we will go out and compete.
“I expect us to go up there and be focused and play hard and not be intimidated,” he continued. “Our girls play hard and our girls will go out and compete; that is why you play the game. Anything can happen. We are going up there to win the game; we are not going up there to just show up.”
Live stats and audio for Wednesday’s game will be provided by MSNsportsNET.com.
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