No. 17/16 West Virginia Falls at Mississippi State
November 20, 2014 06:50 PM | General
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STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 17/16 West Virginia University women’s basketball team could not overcome a 15-point second half run by Mississippi State, as the Mountaineers fell 74-61 on Thursday evening at Humphrey Coliseum in the Preseason WNIT semifinal.
NOTES: Linda Stepney made her 96th career start on Thursday … Bria Holmes reached double figures for the seventh straight game dating back to last season … Averee Fields finished the game with a career-best 23 points for her third double-digit game of the year.
The Mountaineers (2-1) held a seven-point advantage early on, but MSU (3-0) would take a 35-32 halftime lead. WVU cut it to one at the 16 minute mark in the second half. However, Mississippi State used a 15-0 run to take control of the contest.
Not giving up, WVU cut the deficit to nine with less than six minutes remaining. However a pair of back-to-back treys from MSU kept the game out of reach. MSU out-manned the Mountaineers 31-20 on the offensive glass and forced 24 turnovers in the loss.
“They hurt us on offensive rebounds,” said coach Mike Carey. “We needed to see this to see what we need to correct. Give credit to Mississippi State, they did what they needed to do.”
Averee Fields tallied a team-leading and career-best 23 points in the win, going 8-of-14 from the field. She handed out four assists and collected a pair of steals in 37 minutes. Junior Bria Holmes reached double-digits for the seventh straight game with 18 points. She pulled in six rebounds, recorded two blocks and had two steals. Crystal Leary was the top rebounder, pulling down nine boards and scoring five points.
Mississippi State was led by freshman Victoria Vivians’ 26 points and five rebounds. Vivians hit four of MSU’s five triples. Ketara Chapel’s 19 points and Breanna Richardon’s 10 rounded out double-digit scoring for the Bulldogs.
The Mountaineers shot 38.3 percent (23-of-60), while Mississippi State shot 36 percent (27-of-75). The second chance opportunities proved fruitful for Mississippi State as they won that column, 26-10.
West Virginia opened the game on a 7-1 edge. The Mountaineers stretched its first half edge to seven at 12:43. Guard Linda Stepney exited early in the first half due to foul trouble, fueling Mississippi State’s 10-7 run to close the half. The Bulldogs made seven free throws at the end of the first half to take a 35-32 lead.
Holmes led the Mountaineers with 13 points, while Fields followed up with nine. The Bulldog’s Ketara Chapel went 4-of-4 from the field and led MSU with nine points.
WVU shot 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from the field in the first half, while MSU was held to 29.7 percent (11-of-37). The Mountaineers were outrebounded 27-23, while committing 12 turnovers compared to MSU’s seven.
In the second half, the Mountaineers pulled within one (42-41) at 16:21, but would remain scoreless over the next six minutes. Mississippi State went on a 15-0 run capitalizing on turnovers and dominating inside the paint.
WVU responded with six points, including back-to-back jumpers from Fields and Muldrow. Fields’ bucket off the glass trimmed the deficit to nine with under six minutes to play. However, a trey and long-range jumper by Vivians stretched the Bulldogs lead back to double-figures.
West Virginia cut it to nine under four minutes, but another Vivians free throw and a triple ended the threat.
The Mountaineers return to action next Wednesday, Nov. 26 when WVU hosts Evansville at 7 p.m.
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