MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University women’s basketball hits the road again when the Mountaineers visit No. 21/20 Oklahoma State on Saturday, Jan. 17. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. ET in Stillwater and the contest will air nationally on Fox Sports 2.
Fans in Morgantown can watch FS2 on Comcast channel 166, DirecTV channel 16 and Dish channel 397. Jeff Culhane and Meg Bulger will describe the action on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG,
WVUsports.com and via the TuneIn Radio app.
West Virginia (10-6, 0-4 Big 12) suffered a 55-45 setback to Texas Tech on Wednesday. The Mountaineers were held to 30.9 percent shooting (21-of-68) from the field and just 6.3 percent (1-of-16) from the three-point line. Texas Tech’s 14-0 run to start the second half propelled the Lady Raiders to victory.
Junior guard Bria Holmes leads the Big 12 in scoring with her 21.7 points. She is 11th nationally in scoring. Center Lanay Montgomery notched her second consecutive double-figure rebounding performance with 14 boards against Texas Tech. In league play, the Pittsburgh native is averaging 9.5 rebounds per game. Senior Linda Stepney’s assist/turnover ratio of 3.3 is second in the league and sixth overall in the nation.
“It’s all about accountability now,” said coach Mike Carey. “Our offensive stats in our four conference games are really bad. We set up extra shooting times during the week. We’re going to do all the right things. But it comes down to you’ve got to be able to score.”
WVU and Oklahoma State (12-3, 2-2 Big 12) meet for the seventh time on Saturday with the Mountaineers owning a 4-2 edge in the series. West Virginia is 3-1 against the Cowgirls since joining the Big 12 three years ago.
Oklahoma State is coming off a strong 69-47 win over K-State on Wednesday. The Cowgirls have won two of their last three, which includes a 66-36 win against Texas Tech. Oklahoma State holds an unblemished 10-0 mark inside the Gallagher-Iba Arena.
A prolific shooting team, OSU leads the Big 12 with a 39.9 3-point field goal percentage. That mark is fourth nationally. OSU is averaging a field goal percentage of 47.3 percent, which is eighth in the NCAA.
There are five Cowgirls boasting double figures through 15 games. Brittney Martin leads the offensive attack with 13.6 points, followed by Liz Donohoe’s 12.9 points per contest. Donohoe’s free throw percentage of 90.7 11th nationally. Guard Roshunda Johnson leads the league with 3.2 steals per contest.
BIG 12 PLAY
- WVU won 25 regular season games in Big 12 play during its first two seasons.
- Guard Bria Holmes was selected as the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year.
- This is the first time WVU has opened Big 12 play 0-4. WVU started the 2013 campaign 0-2.
- WVU has not lost five consecutive games since dropping eight in a row in February 2006.
AGAINST RANKED OPPOSITION
- WVU is 38-154 all-time against ranked opponents. In 2014, WVU picked up five wins over ranked foes.
- The last ranked win was 71-69 at No. 6 Baylor on March 2, 2014.
REBOUND MACHINE
- Lanay Montgomery is boasting 9.5 rebounds in four conference games, which is tied for third in Big 12-only stats.
- Montgomery has reached double-figure rebounds in five games this season.
- She has recorded back-to-back double-figure rebound games with 17 versus No. 5 Baylor and 14 against Texas Tech.