WVU Earns Win Over Villanova
January 07, 2012 10:56 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Led by four players in double figures, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team posted its third-straight win over Villanova, 61-56, at the Coliseum on Saturday night.
The Mountaineers (11-4, 2-1 BIG EAST) led by just two points, 51-49, with 5:29 remaining in regulation. Layups from redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning and redshirt-sophomore Christal Caldwell gave West Virginia an offensive edge, and a three from sophomore Brooke Hampton seemed to seal the deal at 58-49 with just 2:14 left to play.
But Villanova fought back, using back-to back threes from junior forward Megan Pearson and junior guard Rachel Roberts to pull within four. A free throw from Pearson brought the Wildcats (11-4, 2-1 BIG EAST) to within three with 47 seconds left, but time was running out and Villanova was forced to foul, allowing junior Asya Bussie to sink both shots from the line and end the game.
“We had confidence even when they tied it up in the second half,” said coach Carey. “I felt that we could still win and so did our girls. We executed. When we went big with Ayana Dunning and Asya (Bussie), we did a good job executing. We ran the same play five times in a row. We ran two plays probably the last eight minutes of the game. That’s it. But, we were getting any shot we wanted off of them. It was just a matter of making our foul shots or making the layup.”
Hampton led the Mountaineers in scoring with a career-high 18 points on the night, her previous career-high occurring earlier this season against Syracuse when she posted 15 points. She was followed by Dunning, Caldwell and Bussie, all of whom posted 10 points against the Wildcats.
“That is probably the most points that we have scored on them in about two or three years,” Carey said. “Last year it was 39-36. If we would have made our foul shots and some of the layups we had over top, we would have been in the 70s. Our girls played hard. That is a tough team to guard.”
Coming into the game, the Mountaineers were concerned with Villanova’s ability to sink shots from beyond the arc as the Wildcats entered the contest ranked second-highest in the league from 3-point range.
While Villanova shot 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from beyond the arc, the Mountaineers had an answer, shooting 53.8 percent (7-of-13) in return. Of those seven shots, Hampton sank four and Caldwell sank two.
Another big factor in West Virginia’s win was its dominance on the boards. The Mountaineers pulled down 42 rebounds in comparison to Villanova’s 27. Dunning led the team with nine rebounds, while Caldwell followed close behind with eight rebounds. Bussie and sophomore Jess Harlee each finished the game with six boards.
“Bottom line that it came down to was unfortunately what I thought it was going to come down to; rebounding the ball,” said Villanova head coach Harry Perretta. “We are not a good rebounding team and we have to make 3-pointers to make up for that and we only outscored them by four 3-pointers in the game. For us to win, we are going to have to outscore our opponents by probably seven to eight 3-pointers because we just can’t get a lot of points inside and we don’t get a lot of points off of the dribble penetration.
“You have to rebound the ball to have a chance especially late in games,” he continued. “You have to be able to get a stop.”
The Mountaineers ended the game shooting 40.8 percent (20-of-49) from the field and 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the line and were able to hold Villanova to 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the field and to 75 percent (3-of-4) from the charity stripe.
Roberts led the Wildcats in scoring with 18 points. Redshirt-freshman forward/center Emily Leer came in second with 14 points and Pearson rounded out the top three scorers with 13 points on the night.
“This is a big game for us coming off that loss, especially at home,” Carey concluded. “You have got to win your home games and try and win a few on the road so this was a big win for us.”
The Mountaineers return to action at the Coliseum on Tuesday, Jan. 10 when they host Seton Hall. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and live stats and video will be provided by MSNsportsNET.com.
The Mountaineers (11-4, 2-1 BIG EAST) led by just two points, 51-49, with 5:29 remaining in regulation. Layups from redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning and redshirt-sophomore Christal Caldwell gave West Virginia an offensive edge, and a three from sophomore Brooke Hampton seemed to seal the deal at 58-49 with just 2:14 left to play.
But Villanova fought back, using back-to back threes from junior forward Megan Pearson and junior guard Rachel Roberts to pull within four. A free throw from Pearson brought the Wildcats (11-4, 2-1 BIG EAST) to within three with 47 seconds left, but time was running out and Villanova was forced to foul, allowing junior Asya Bussie to sink both shots from the line and end the game.
“We had confidence even when they tied it up in the second half,” said coach Carey. “I felt that we could still win and so did our girls. We executed. When we went big with Ayana Dunning and Asya (Bussie), we did a good job executing. We ran the same play five times in a row. We ran two plays probably the last eight minutes of the game. That’s it. But, we were getting any shot we wanted off of them. It was just a matter of making our foul shots or making the layup.”
Hampton led the Mountaineers in scoring with a career-high 18 points on the night, her previous career-high occurring earlier this season against Syracuse when she posted 15 points. She was followed by Dunning, Caldwell and Bussie, all of whom posted 10 points against the Wildcats.
“That is probably the most points that we have scored on them in about two or three years,” Carey said. “Last year it was 39-36. If we would have made our foul shots and some of the layups we had over top, we would have been in the 70s. Our girls played hard. That is a tough team to guard.”
Coming into the game, the Mountaineers were concerned with Villanova’s ability to sink shots from beyond the arc as the Wildcats entered the contest ranked second-highest in the league from 3-point range.
While Villanova shot 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from beyond the arc, the Mountaineers had an answer, shooting 53.8 percent (7-of-13) in return. Of those seven shots, Hampton sank four and Caldwell sank two.
Another big factor in West Virginia’s win was its dominance on the boards. The Mountaineers pulled down 42 rebounds in comparison to Villanova’s 27. Dunning led the team with nine rebounds, while Caldwell followed close behind with eight rebounds. Bussie and sophomore Jess Harlee each finished the game with six boards.
“Bottom line that it came down to was unfortunately what I thought it was going to come down to; rebounding the ball,” said Villanova head coach Harry Perretta. “We are not a good rebounding team and we have to make 3-pointers to make up for that and we only outscored them by four 3-pointers in the game. For us to win, we are going to have to outscore our opponents by probably seven to eight 3-pointers because we just can’t get a lot of points inside and we don’t get a lot of points off of the dribble penetration.
“You have to rebound the ball to have a chance especially late in games,” he continued. “You have to be able to get a stop.”
The Mountaineers ended the game shooting 40.8 percent (20-of-49) from the field and 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the line and were able to hold Villanova to 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the field and to 75 percent (3-of-4) from the charity stripe.
Roberts led the Wildcats in scoring with 18 points. Redshirt-freshman forward/center Emily Leer came in second with 14 points and Pearson rounded out the top three scorers with 13 points on the night.
“This is a big game for us coming off that loss, especially at home,” Carey concluded. “You have got to win your home games and try and win a few on the road so this was a big win for us.”
The Mountaineers return to action at the Coliseum on Tuesday, Jan. 10 when they host Seton Hall. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and live stats and video will be provided by MSNsportsNET.com.
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