Women Begin Postseason Play
March 04, 2011 09:39 AM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia women’s basketball team will face Cincinnati in the first round of the Big East Tournament at 6 p.m. tonight at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
The two teams have never faced each other in the Big East Tournament yet thanks to a 72-44 regular season win over the Bearcats (9-19, 2-14 BE) at the Coliseum on Jan. 8, the Mountaineers (22-8, 8-8 BE) currently hold a 3-2 record against Cincinnati under Coach Mike Carey.
In that victory, West Virginia had 17 team blocks, the third-most in program history. Liz Repella and Korinne Campbell each set career highs with five blocks apiece, and Asya Bussie was one block short of tying her career high of six. In addition, the Mountaineers forced 22 turnovers, which included 11 steals.
“We watched some film from when we played them and we were up the lanes and making them go back door while at the same time defending the back door,” explained Repella. “We were just pressuring their guards and it led to a lot of turnovers, which led to some easy baskets on the other end.”
Madina Ali led a trio of players in scoring against the Bearcats, with one of her eight double-doubles of the season, scoring 15 points and pulling down 11 boards. She was followed by Repella, who had 11 points and Bussie who posted 10. Vanessa House came off the bench to score 7 of the team’s 22 bench points.
“With their size and everything, we have a little bit of advantage,” Ali commented. “They’re small, but they’re tough. We need to commit fewer turnovers on our end and we’ll be good.”
Cincinnati enters the Big East Tournament as the No. 15 seed, having upset No. 22 Marquette, 65-62, during the final game of the regular season.
Senior guard Shareese Ulis paces Cincinnati in scoring averaging 13.9 points per game. She also leads the team in steals (37) and assists (78).
“She can score and she can hit the 3 and take you off the dribble,” Carey said. “She’s a very good basketball player and we have to be aware of where she’s at and try to shut down the lanes on her a little bit.”
“She’s someone that we have to stop immediately,” Ali added. “We just have to do what we need to do to limit her touches.”
Ulis is followed by freshman guard Kayla Cook and sophomore forward Daress McClung, who average 8.2 and 8.0 points per game, respectively. McClung also leads the team in rebounding, with 6.3 rebounds per game.
In West Virginia Cincinnati will be facing an opponent that is very familiar with postseason Big East play. Now in its 10th consecutive Big East Tournament and 15th overall, West Virginia hopes to erase the struggles of February and start over with a clean slate.
The team will rely heavily on its five experienced seniors, two of whom have been the team’s leading scorers for the entire season. Repella, recently named to the all-Big East first team, is averaging 14.0 points per game while also leading in steals (61) and 3-pointers made (58).
Ali, a second team all-Big East pick, is averaging 13.1 points per game in addition to leading the team in rebounding with 7.1 rebounds per game.
“I think Madina is the most improved player in the Big East,” said Carey. “You look at what her stats were last year compared to this year. Playing with an injury and not being one of our main offensive threats last year, and then this year we kind of go as she goes. I think she’s done a great job this year and Liz has been very consistent. Teams have loaded up on her this year because we were struggling to score and they took her out. I was also glad to see Korinne (Campbell) start scoring a little bit because we really become a little bit of a better team when she scores.”
After struggling to find an offensive rhythm for much of this season, Campbell has stepped up and scored double figures for the Mountaineers during the past two games, posting a season-high 14 points against Rutgers and 13 points against St. John’s two days later.
Also expected to start are Bussie, who leads the team in blocks (50) while ranking fifth in the Big East with an average of 1.7 per game, and Miles, who has double-figure scoring performances in three of the last four games in addition to handing out a team-leading 94 assists.
The game will be streamed live on bigeast.tv. for free, and MSN radio will provide a live broadcast with Travis Jones and Jay Jacobs handling the call.
The two teams have never faced each other in the Big East Tournament yet thanks to a 72-44 regular season win over the Bearcats (9-19, 2-14 BE) at the Coliseum on Jan. 8, the Mountaineers (22-8, 8-8 BE) currently hold a 3-2 record against Cincinnati under Coach Mike Carey.
In that victory, West Virginia had 17 team blocks, the third-most in program history. Liz Repella and Korinne Campbell each set career highs with five blocks apiece, and Asya Bussie was one block short of tying her career high of six. In addition, the Mountaineers forced 22 turnovers, which included 11 steals.
“We watched some film from when we played them and we were up the lanes and making them go back door while at the same time defending the back door,” explained Repella. “We were just pressuring their guards and it led to a lot of turnovers, which led to some easy baskets on the other end.”
Madina Ali led a trio of players in scoring against the Bearcats, with one of her eight double-doubles of the season, scoring 15 points and pulling down 11 boards. She was followed by Repella, who had 11 points and Bussie who posted 10. Vanessa House came off the bench to score 7 of the team’s 22 bench points.
“With their size and everything, we have a little bit of advantage,” Ali commented. “They’re small, but they’re tough. We need to commit fewer turnovers on our end and we’ll be good.”
Cincinnati enters the Big East Tournament as the No. 15 seed, having upset No. 22 Marquette, 65-62, during the final game of the regular season.
Senior guard Shareese Ulis paces Cincinnati in scoring averaging 13.9 points per game. She also leads the team in steals (37) and assists (78).
“She can score and she can hit the 3 and take you off the dribble,” Carey said. “She’s a very good basketball player and we have to be aware of where she’s at and try to shut down the lanes on her a little bit.”
“She’s someone that we have to stop immediately,” Ali added. “We just have to do what we need to do to limit her touches.”
Ulis is followed by freshman guard Kayla Cook and sophomore forward Daress McClung, who average 8.2 and 8.0 points per game, respectively. McClung also leads the team in rebounding, with 6.3 rebounds per game.
In West Virginia Cincinnati will be facing an opponent that is very familiar with postseason Big East play. Now in its 10th consecutive Big East Tournament and 15th overall, West Virginia hopes to erase the struggles of February and start over with a clean slate.
The team will rely heavily on its five experienced seniors, two of whom have been the team’s leading scorers for the entire season. Repella, recently named to the all-Big East first team, is averaging 14.0 points per game while also leading in steals (61) and 3-pointers made (58).
Ali, a second team all-Big East pick, is averaging 13.1 points per game in addition to leading the team in rebounding with 7.1 rebounds per game.
“I think Madina is the most improved player in the Big East,” said Carey. “You look at what her stats were last year compared to this year. Playing with an injury and not being one of our main offensive threats last year, and then this year we kind of go as she goes. I think she’s done a great job this year and Liz has been very consistent. Teams have loaded up on her this year because we were struggling to score and they took her out. I was also glad to see Korinne (Campbell) start scoring a little bit because we really become a little bit of a better team when she scores.”
After struggling to find an offensive rhythm for much of this season, Campbell has stepped up and scored double figures for the Mountaineers during the past two games, posting a season-high 14 points against Rutgers and 13 points against St. John’s two days later.
Also expected to start are Bussie, who leads the team in blocks (50) while ranking fifth in the Big East with an average of 1.7 per game, and Miles, who has double-figure scoring performances in three of the last four games in addition to handing out a team-leading 94 assists.
The game will be streamed live on bigeast.tv. for free, and MSN radio will provide a live broadcast with Travis Jones and Jay Jacobs handling the call.
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