No. 21 West Virginia Knocks Off Fairfield
November 29, 2014 01:28 PM | General
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A strong first half performance propelled the No. 22/21-ranked West Virginia University women’s basketball team to a 67-53 victory over Fairfield on Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
The staunch Mountaineer defense held the Stags to just 11 first half points. West Virginia (4-1) stretched its advantage to 26 in the second half before Fairfield (1-5) closed the game on a 25-to-13 run. Saturday’s victory extended West Virginia’s home court winning streak to 12, which is now the fourth longest in program history.
Three Mountaineers reached double figures with senior Averee Fields tallying a game-high 18 points. The Murray, Kentucky native notched a career-high nine field goals, grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists in 34 minutes.
Bria Holmes, the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, added 15 points and a team-best seven rebounds in the win. Freshman Teana Muldrow knocked down three triples for 10 points and pulled in four boards for her second double-digit game this year.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it,” said associate head coach Chester Nichols. “We have some work to do. It was a tale of two halves. We had a few people step up. Averee Fields gave us the punch we needed to get going. At one stretch during the first half, we got a lot of defensive stops. And we had a lot of runs off those defensive stops. In the second half, we didn’t duplicate that.”
For the contest, the Mountaineers shot 40.9 percent (27-of-66) from the field. WVU was 6-of-15 (40.0%) from 3-point range. Fairfield went 20-of-51 for 39.2 percent, recording seven triples. West Virginia outmanned the Stags 42-31 in the rebounds column and controlled the offensive glass 23-15.
West Virginia’s stingy defensive play in the first half disrupted the Stags early on. Three consecutive jumpers by Fields propelled the Mountaineers to a 12-2 lead with 14:40 left in the opening frame.
The perimeter started heating up for West Virginia, as the team knocked down four of its first five from three-point range. Offensively, WVU cooled off to end the half, but closed the first period with a 32-11 edge. The Mountaineers went 12-of-26 for 46.2 percent from the field, holding Fairfield to 4-of-24 for 16.7 percent. Fairfield committed 16 turnovers resulting in 19 WVU points.
Holmes led all halftime scorers with 10 points, while McDonald had a game-best six boards. Kristin Schatzlein led the Stags with six points.
Fairfield started off the second half on a better foot. Despite a stronger start, free throws from forward Crystal Leary at 8:41 would give WVU a 26-point advantage with 8:41 remaining. Leary would finish with seven points and tied for a team-best seven boards.
Fairfield began its late push thanks to the veteran Schatzlein’s driving to the lane bucket, making it a 54-32 contest. She would finish the game with a team-best 17 points.
The Stags continued their hot offensive work, knocking down 9-of-10 field goals to cut WVU’s edge to 17. Fairfield scored five out of the last seven points to finish the contest 67-53.
Bre McDonald in her second game as a Mountaineer added eight points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists in just 18 minutes of play. Meanwhile, senior Linda Stepney matched a career-high with 10 assists.
The Mountaineers hit the road for a 7 p.m. contest at Fairleigh Dickinson (1-3) on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
NOTES: Senior guard Linda Stepney made her 98th start on Saturday … Stepney matched a career-high of 10 assists – she previously set that mark against Appalachian State on Dec. 28, 2012 … Stepney has dished out five or more assists in four straight games … Bria Holmes has reached double figures in nine straight games …Averee Fields has scored double-digits in five straight contests … Fields set a career-high with nine FGs and 16 FG attempts … West Virginia has won 12 straight games at home dating back to last season – that streak is the fourth longest in program history … WVU is now 153-39 under Mike Carey inside the Coliseum.
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