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West Virginia Clashes with Yale on Sunday
November 28, 2015 12:01 PM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women’s basketball team concludes the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge against Yale on Sunday, Nov. 29. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
No video stream will be provided for Sunday’s game. Jeff Culhane and Liz Repella will call the action on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG. Fans can listen to the contest on various affiliates across the state, online at WVUsports.com or by using the TuneIn Radio app.
The Mountaineers (3-2) are coming off a 68-50 victory over Grand Canyon at the Hall of Fame Challenge in Spokane, Washington, which gave coach Mike Carey his 300th career win at WVU. The victory over the Lopes on Tuesday snapped a two-game losing skid for WVU after tough defeats to Gonzaga (62-57) and USC (78-67 – OT).
“Again, it’s inexperience,” noted Carey on the two losses. “At the end of a game situation, we didn’t execute. Those are things that we have to continue to work on. It doesn’t surprise me because we’re a young team.”
WVU is averaging 73.0 points per contest, while allowing opponents to score just 57.6 points per game. Offensively, the Mountaineers are shooting at a 45.7 percent (139-of-304) clip from the field and 36.0 percent (31-of-86) behind the arc.
West Virginia and Yale meet for the first time on Sunday. Yale (4-2) has victories over Albertus Mangus (67-34), Iona (63-48), Fairleigh Dickinson (77-58) and most recently Holy Cross (69-59). The Bulldogs narrowly lost at Dayton (81-75) and at North Carolina (70-63).
Yale is averaging 69.0 points per contest, while shooting 38.2 percent. Nyasha Sarju leads the Bulldogs with 17.9 points and a 6.8 rebounds per game. Whitney Wyckoff is boasting 9.5 points and 6.2 rebounds in six games this season.
The visit to the Nutmeg State marks a return home for senior guard Bria Holmes, who is a native of New Haven. Holmes had an illustrious high school career at James Hillhouse after tallying 1,459 points and grabbing 486 rebounds in three seasons. Holmes also became the first female player from Connecticut to be selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Girls game in 2012.
Since arriving at West Virginia, Holmes has scored 1,504 points which is tied for 10th with Jenney Hillen on the program’s all-time scoring ledger. The senior needs just 31 more points to surpass Olivia Bradley (1,534) for No. 9. Holmes paces the Mountaineers with 18.4 points per game. Her average of 20.0 points per contest led the Hall of Fame Challenge tournament field in Spokane, Washington.
Coach Carey is now one win away from tying and two wins away from surpassing coach Kittie Blakemore as WVU women’s basketball’s all-time wins leader. Carey is also 12 victories away from reaching his 600th career win.
Teana Muldrow is averaging double figures with 10.4 points per game. Freshmen Katrina Pardee and Tynice Martin are contributing with 8.8 points and 8.0 points, respectively.
Center Lanay Montgomery continues to lead the Mountaineer offense with a 68.0 (17-of-25) field goal percentage. Her 3.8 blocks per game leads the Big 12 Conference.
West Virginia returns home from a four-game road trip on Wednesday, Dec. 2, when the Mountaineers welcome Morehead State to the Coliseum for a 7 p.m. tip.
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