WVU Women Cruise Into Second Round
March 04, 2011 09:03 PM | General
HARTFORD, Conn. – The West Virginia women’s basketball team posted a 66-41 BIG EAST Tournament first round win over Cincinnati at the XL Center on Friday evening.
Before the game, coach Mike Carey stated that in order to take care of business the team needed to stay aggressive on offense while getting back on transition defense. He knew it would also be critical to keep the Cincinnati guards out of the paint.
The Mountaineers (23-8, 9-8 BE) accomplished all of the above, using two double figure scorers to post the majority of their points, while playing their traditionally strong defense to control the Bearcats (9-20, 2-15 BE) on offense. The Mountaineers held Cincinnati scoreless in the second half until the 13:20 mark, when freshman forward Tiffany Turner hit a jumper.
"What can I say? West Virginia is a very, very, very, good defensive team," said Cincinnati coach Jamelle Elliott. "When we were coming in to the game, we knew we had to find ways to score, not even just to score, but just to get shots off against their stifling man-to-man defense and we didn’t do a good job of that."
Sophomore Asya Bussie led West Virginia in scoring with 16 points and five rebounds, ending the game only one point shy of her season-high scoring total. She was followed by Liz Repella, who put up 15 points in addition to taking down seven rebounds.
“I think we were just working inside out," Bussie said. "They came over to double and we passed the ball out to our shooters. Once they started hitting shots, I was able to get some easy points inside.”
These two weren’t the only Mountaineer players who had strong offensive games, however. Korinne Campbell posted nine points, only one point shy of going three consecutive games in double figures. Madina Ali tied with Campbell, also scoring nine points. They were both closely followed by Sarah Miles, who had a solid offensive performance with eight points while tying her career-high in assists, with ten assists in 32 minutes of play.
"I’d just like to say that if you look at Sarah’s (Miles) stats, 10 assists, 2 turnovers," Carey said. "She is starting to get back into her timing. A lot of people don’t realize that she was hurt most of the season with hand surgery and then with her knee. She is just now getting her timing back and we are such a better team when she is up and down the floor.”
The game was similar to Monday’s senior night game against St. John’s, as the Mountaineers were able to stifle Cincinnati in nearly every category. They collected ten steals, four blocks and 17 assists while limiting their turnovers to ten. In contrast, the Bearcats amassed four steals, one block and seven assists while committing 22 turnovers.
The differences in performance didn’t end there. In terms of shooting accuracy, West Virginia shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field, and 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from the 3-point line. Additionally, they shot 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from free throw range.
Cincinnati was held to 32.6 percent (15-of-46) from the field, 24 percent (6-of-25) from 3-point range and 50 percent (5-of-10) from the charity stripe.
The Bearcats were led in scoring by junior guard Bjonee Reaves, who had 11 points.
The Mountaineers have a quick turnaround, returning to action at the XL Center tomorrow night for a 6 p.m. tip against No. 7 seed St. John's. In addition to being streamed live at www.bigeast.org/wbb, the game will also be broadcast on WVFX Clarksburg, and WTOV-DT2 Steubenville/Wheeling. Radio coverage will be provided by MSN Radio, with Travis Jones handling the call.
Before the game, coach Mike Carey stated that in order to take care of business the team needed to stay aggressive on offense while getting back on transition defense. He knew it would also be critical to keep the Cincinnati guards out of the paint.
The Mountaineers (23-8, 9-8 BE) accomplished all of the above, using two double figure scorers to post the majority of their points, while playing their traditionally strong defense to control the Bearcats (9-20, 2-15 BE) on offense. The Mountaineers held Cincinnati scoreless in the second half until the 13:20 mark, when freshman forward Tiffany Turner hit a jumper.
"What can I say? West Virginia is a very, very, very, good defensive team," said Cincinnati coach Jamelle Elliott. "When we were coming in to the game, we knew we had to find ways to score, not even just to score, but just to get shots off against their stifling man-to-man defense and we didn’t do a good job of that."
Sophomore Asya Bussie led West Virginia in scoring with 16 points and five rebounds, ending the game only one point shy of her season-high scoring total. She was followed by Liz Repella, who put up 15 points in addition to taking down seven rebounds.
“I think we were just working inside out," Bussie said. "They came over to double and we passed the ball out to our shooters. Once they started hitting shots, I was able to get some easy points inside.”
These two weren’t the only Mountaineer players who had strong offensive games, however. Korinne Campbell posted nine points, only one point shy of going three consecutive games in double figures. Madina Ali tied with Campbell, also scoring nine points. They were both closely followed by Sarah Miles, who had a solid offensive performance with eight points while tying her career-high in assists, with ten assists in 32 minutes of play.
"I’d just like to say that if you look at Sarah’s (Miles) stats, 10 assists, 2 turnovers," Carey said. "She is starting to get back into her timing. A lot of people don’t realize that she was hurt most of the season with hand surgery and then with her knee. She is just now getting her timing back and we are such a better team when she is up and down the floor.”
The game was similar to Monday’s senior night game against St. John’s, as the Mountaineers were able to stifle Cincinnati in nearly every category. They collected ten steals, four blocks and 17 assists while limiting their turnovers to ten. In contrast, the Bearcats amassed four steals, one block and seven assists while committing 22 turnovers.
The differences in performance didn’t end there. In terms of shooting accuracy, West Virginia shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field, and 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from the 3-point line. Additionally, they shot 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from free throw range.
Cincinnati was held to 32.6 percent (15-of-46) from the field, 24 percent (6-of-25) from 3-point range and 50 percent (5-of-10) from the charity stripe.
The Bearcats were led in scoring by junior guard Bjonee Reaves, who had 11 points.
The Mountaineers have a quick turnaround, returning to action at the XL Center tomorrow night for a 6 p.m. tip against No. 7 seed St. John's. In addition to being streamed live at www.bigeast.org/wbb, the game will also be broadcast on WVFX Clarksburg, and WTOV-DT2 Steubenville/Wheeling. Radio coverage will be provided by MSN Radio, with Travis Jones handling the call.
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