No. 24/21 WVU Visits Fairleigh Dickinson
December 02, 2014 11:58 AM | General
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 24/21-ranked West Virginia University women’s basketball team resumes action on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at Fairleigh Dickinson. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Stratis Arena inside the Rothman Center in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Fans can watch Wednesday’s contest online via the NEC Front Row at FDUKnights.com. Jeff Culhane will call the action on the Mountaineer Sports Network. Additional listening options include WVUsports.com and the Tune In Radio app.
“This is a good road game for us,” said assistant coach Sharrona Reaves. “We are going to approach this like we have in practice all week. We need to focus on communication, defense and put together two good halves of basketball.”
The Mountaineers (4-1) are coming off a 63-57 victory over Fairfield, holding the Stags to 11 first-half points and swiping 16 steals in the win. Senior Averee Fields led the Mountaineers with 18 points, followed by Bria Holmes’ 15. Senior Linda Stepaney matched a career-high with 10 assist in the win.
Holmes, the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, leads the league with 24.8 points. That mark is ninth nationally. Stepney has dished out 6.2 assists per contest, ranking 14th in the NCAA.
West Virginia is sixth nationally with 6.8 blocks per game. The Mountaineers have held opponents to a field goal percent of 33.8 percent (102-of-302), which is presently 31st in the NCAA.
Fairleigh Dickinson and the Mountaineers meet for the second time on Wednesday. Last season, West Virginia won 94-47 over the Knights. Taylor Palmer scored a game-high 25 points in the victory.
The Knights (1-4) opened the season with a 73-54 win over Manhattan, but have since dropped four consecutive games. On Sunday, FDU fell 78-67 at UMass Lowell.
This season, Fairleigh Dickinson is boasting 66.0 points per contest and shooting 32.6 percent (105-of-322).
After missing last season with an injury, 2013 All-Northeast Conference honoree Erika Livermore has returned to the Knights. The redshirt junior leads the team with 18.4 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. Helping Livermore with the offensive production is guard Kelsey Cruz with 18.3 points per contest.
TOY DRIVE ON SATURDAY
WVU women’s basketball coach Mike Carey this holiday season has teamed up with the Salvation Army’s ‘Forgotten Angels’. As part of the campaign, a Toy Drive will be conducted at this Saturday’s 4 p.m. game vs. Coppin State. Fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy to the game will receive a ticket for Saturday's game or a future women’s game. Come support the local community and your Mountaineers this Saturday.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Bria Holmes has scored double figures in nine consecutive games dating back to last season.
- Holmes has 820 points and is 180 from reaching 1,000 career points.
- She would become the 31st 1,000-point scorer in program history.
- Holmes’ 24.8 ppg leads the Big 12 and is 9th nationally as of Dec. 1.
- Senior Linda Stepney is two games shy of starting her 100th career game.
- Stepney has handed out five or more assists in each of the last four games.
STEPNEY CLIMBING RECORD BOOK
- Senior Linda Stepney has dished out 307 career assists, which is 16th all-time at WVU. She is just 24 away from reaching Brooke Hampton’s 331 set last year.
WVU REMAINS NO. 21 IN COACHES POLL
West Virginia remained at No. 21 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches poll released on Tuesday. The Mountaineers garnered 147 points, just eight behind No. 20 Rutgers.
Alumni Series | Violet Hewett
Friday, May 01
SWIM: What it Means to Represent West Virginia
Wednesday, April 29
SWIM: What it Means to Become a Mountaineer
Wednesday, April 29
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
