West Virginia Hosts North Florida
December 09, 2011 04:33 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia University women’s basketball team heads into Saturday afternoon’s contest with North Florida coming off of a crucial BIG EAST opening win over Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
But the team knows that while they can celebrate their achievement for the time being, the fact remains that the win doesn’t mean anything if they don’t come back and focus on winning against the Ospreys (2-5, 1-0 Atlantic Sun).
“The first thing I said to the team after the Syracuse game was that the win doesn’t mean anything if we don’t win Saturday,” Coach Carey said. “That’s something you have to keep reinforcing. It’s a long haul and one game doesn’t constitute anything. We have to continue to work hard.”
North Florida brings two dynamic players in senior Brittany Kirkland and junior Jadhken Kerr, who currently shoot 50 percent (11-of-22) and 36.4 percent (12-of-33) from beyond the arc. Despite West Virginia’s defense holding all opponents to just 30.8 percent from the field (the fourth-best average in the nation) Carey believes these two players will still present a challenge for his defense.
“They have two guards like that that I think are really very good,” Carey said. “The guards concern me; both shoot extremely well from the 3 and they bring them off of staggers a lot.
“We do a good job of breaking up offense,” he continued. “But then they’re driving us and if we stop them they’re shooting over the top of us because of our size a little bit. That’s a big concern of mine and it’s going to continue to be for the rest of the year.”
Kirkland, a preseason all-Atlantic Sun selection, leads the team in scoring, with 12.3 points per game. Behind her, redshirt-junior Fabiola Josil averages 8.0 points per game and junior Larkira Jones averages 7.1 points per game to round out the top three scorers.
Jones also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.4 boards per game. Josil and redshirt-sophomore Jasmine Hicks round out the top three rebounders with 4.9 and 3.3 rebounds per game, respectively.
The Mountaineers (6-2, 1-0 BIG EAST) are coming off a team performance in which they out-rebounded the top rebounding team in the league in addition to having four players score in double figures.
“You usually get stats every four minutes and I don’t usually get them because I don’t worry about what the stats are at that time,” explained Carey. “In that game I was always asking about the rebounding because that was an emphasis with me. We had to at least be even with them on the boards to have a chance and I thought it was big that we were able to out-rebound them.”
Redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning continues to lead the Mountaineers on the glass, averaging 8.6 rebounds per game. She played an important role at Syracuse, earning her first career double-double by scoring a career-high 19 points while taking down 15 boards, tying her career-high in rebounding.
She’s followed by junior Asya Bussie and sophomore Jess Harlee, who average 6.9 and 6.8 rebounds per game, respectively.
Sophomore Taylor Palmer continues to pace West Virginia in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game. She’s led the team in scoring in five out of eight games and leads the league in 3-pointers made per game at 3.3.
Behind Palmer, Bussie averages 12.6 points per game after coming off of a career-high tying 19 points against Syracuse, and redshirt-sophomore Christal Caldwell averages 6.9 points per game to round out the top three.
Saturday’s tipoff is set for noon.
The first 1,000 fans at the game will receive gold pom-poms and children in attendance can have their picture taken with Santa Claus before the game in the concourse. Fans are also encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the game in support of a food drive.
Live stats and video of Saturday’s contest will be available at MSNsportsNET.com.
But the team knows that while they can celebrate their achievement for the time being, the fact remains that the win doesn’t mean anything if they don’t come back and focus on winning against the Ospreys (2-5, 1-0 Atlantic Sun).
“The first thing I said to the team after the Syracuse game was that the win doesn’t mean anything if we don’t win Saturday,” Coach Carey said. “That’s something you have to keep reinforcing. It’s a long haul and one game doesn’t constitute anything. We have to continue to work hard.”
North Florida brings two dynamic players in senior Brittany Kirkland and junior Jadhken Kerr, who currently shoot 50 percent (11-of-22) and 36.4 percent (12-of-33) from beyond the arc. Despite West Virginia’s defense holding all opponents to just 30.8 percent from the field (the fourth-best average in the nation) Carey believes these two players will still present a challenge for his defense.
“They have two guards like that that I think are really very good,” Carey said. “The guards concern me; both shoot extremely well from the 3 and they bring them off of staggers a lot.
“We do a good job of breaking up offense,” he continued. “But then they’re driving us and if we stop them they’re shooting over the top of us because of our size a little bit. That’s a big concern of mine and it’s going to continue to be for the rest of the year.”
Kirkland, a preseason all-Atlantic Sun selection, leads the team in scoring, with 12.3 points per game. Behind her, redshirt-junior Fabiola Josil averages 8.0 points per game and junior Larkira Jones averages 7.1 points per game to round out the top three scorers.
Jones also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.4 boards per game. Josil and redshirt-sophomore Jasmine Hicks round out the top three rebounders with 4.9 and 3.3 rebounds per game, respectively.
The Mountaineers (6-2, 1-0 BIG EAST) are coming off a team performance in which they out-rebounded the top rebounding team in the league in addition to having four players score in double figures.
“You usually get stats every four minutes and I don’t usually get them because I don’t worry about what the stats are at that time,” explained Carey. “In that game I was always asking about the rebounding because that was an emphasis with me. We had to at least be even with them on the boards to have a chance and I thought it was big that we were able to out-rebound them.”
Redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning continues to lead the Mountaineers on the glass, averaging 8.6 rebounds per game. She played an important role at Syracuse, earning her first career double-double by scoring a career-high 19 points while taking down 15 boards, tying her career-high in rebounding.
She’s followed by junior Asya Bussie and sophomore Jess Harlee, who average 6.9 and 6.8 rebounds per game, respectively.
Sophomore Taylor Palmer continues to pace West Virginia in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game. She’s led the team in scoring in five out of eight games and leads the league in 3-pointers made per game at 3.3.
Behind Palmer, Bussie averages 12.6 points per game after coming off of a career-high tying 19 points against Syracuse, and redshirt-sophomore Christal Caldwell averages 6.9 points per game to round out the top three.
Saturday’s tipoff is set for noon.
The first 1,000 fans at the game will receive gold pom-poms and children in attendance can have their picture taken with Santa Claus before the game in the concourse. Fans are also encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the game in support of a food drive.
Live stats and video of Saturday’s contest will be available at MSNsportsNET.com.
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