SPOKANE, Wash. - The West Virginia University women’s basketball team dropped a 78-67 heartbreaker to USC in overtime in day two of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge on Monday evening at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Much like Sunday’s loss to Gonzaga, West Virginia fought back from a double-digit deficit to take a 62-60 lead with 4:48 remaining. USC’s Courtney Jaco drained a triple and Brianna Barrett added a free throw to give USC a two-point edge. Bria Holmes’ layup with 1:01 remaining in regulation tied the contest at 64-64. The Mountaineers had an opportunity to net the game winner, but a Holmes layup just missed. Temi Fagbenle also missed a jumper with two seconds left to give USC the win in regulation.
Once in overtime, USC (4-0) tallied 11 consecutive points and outscored WVU 14-3 in the extra period to secure the win over the Mountaineers (2-2).
Holmes paced the Mountaineers with a game-high 27 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out five assists. She connected on 12-of-18 for 66.7 percent shooting. Holmes moved past Georgeann Wells (1,484) to No. 13 on WVU’s all-time scoring ledger with 1,490 career points.
Freshman Katrina Pardee netted a season-high 12 points, which included three made treys. Lanay Montgomery scored nine points, pulled in five rebounds and deflected four shots after playing just seven minutes in the opening half. Sophomore Teana Muldrow posted nine points, six rebounds and handed out three assists.
“Again, we had another disappointing outcome after we fought back in the second half,” said coach Mike Carey. “We must learn how to close out games. We still have a lot of work to do as we move forward.”
There were 11 ties and 14 lead changes in the back and forth contest. WVU finished shooting 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the field, which included 7-of-14 (50.0 percent) behind the arc. USC was limited to 37.1 percent (26-of-70) shooting. All six of the Trojans’ three-pointers came from the hands of Jaco, who finished with 20 points. USC out-rebounded WVU 48-41 overall and 19-9 on the offensive glass. USC made 20-of-29 (69.0 percent) from the charity stripe, while WVU knocked down four of eight free throws (50.0 percent).
Fagbenle finished with a double-double for USC, scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Kristen Simon and Barrett rounded out the double-figure scorers with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Both teams swapped leads six times in the first quarter. The Trojans dominated inside due to an 11-point performance by Fagbenle. USC’s Jaco drained a trey in the dwindling seconds to put the Trojans up 18-16 at the end of one.
Back-to-back buckets from Holmes and a trey from Muldrow cut WVU’s deficit to 25-24 with 4:30 remaining. Holmes hit a trey to tie the game, 27-27, at the 2:48 mark and Jessica Morton’s layup gave the Mountaineers a two-point edge. However, USC produced a 9-0 run to end the half and take a 36-29 lead at the break.
WVU shot 37.5 percent (12-of-32), while USC connected on 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from the field. The Trojans won the glass battle 23-19 at the break. Holmes led all scorers with 14 points at the half, while Fagbenle had 13 for USC.
Barrett’s layup at the 7:15 mark in the third pushed USC’s edge to 43-33. The Mountaineers utilized a five-point run to close the third quarter and hold a 52-49 advantage.
There were four ties in the fourth quarter, which included a Holmes equalizer with just a minute remaining in regulation to force overtime. Once in the OT period, USC opened on an 11-0 spurt to secure the win and improve to 4-0 on the season.
West Virginia closes out the three-day trip to Spokane on Tuesday against Grand Canyon. Tipoff is set for 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
NOTES: Bria Holmes netted her 26th game of scoring 25 or more points, which is sixth all-time at West Virginia … Holmes now sits at No. 13 on WVU’s all-time scoring chart with 1,490 points and is two away from moving to No. 12 past Sherell Sowho (1,491) … Lanay Montgomery has now recorded three or more blocks in six consecutive games dating back to last season.
