MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women’s basketball team knocked off Longwood, 74-43, for its sixth consecutive victory on Wednesday evening at the WVU Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (8-2) opened the first quarter with a 21-7 edge and never trailed in the contest. The Lancers (2-7) narrowed the game to 18 points early in the third quarter, but were unable to cut further into West Virginia’s lead. Wednesday’s victory gave WVU its 12 straight win at the Coliseum dating back to last season. West Virginia has tallied 23 consecutive wins against non-conference opponents in Morgantown since the 2013-14 campaign.
Senior Bria Holmes led the team with 19 points followed by sophomore Teana Muldrow with 14. Junior Lanay Montgomery narrowly missed a double-double after recording 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Senior Arielle Roberson also had a chance at a double-double after scoring a season-high nine points and collecting nine rebounds.
Katrina Pardee led the team with four assists, while Tynice Martin and Roberson contributed with three each.
Offensively, West Virginia netted 42.0 percent (29-of-69) overall from the field. The Mountaineers won the rebound battle, 54-35, and dished out 19 assists. West Virginia outscored Longwood in the paint, 44-12, and cashed in a total of 19 points off turnovers.
Longwood was limited to an opponent season-low 20.8 percent (11-of-53) shooting from the field. The Lancers were held to 19 first half points, before recording 18 in the third and six in the final period. Redshirt junior Daeisha Brown led the Lancers with a team-best 14 points.
“Today was not a very good effort,” said coach Mike Carey. “We were two steps too slow the whole night, and we were not very good at executing. I am very disappointed in the way we played.”
Montgomery scored the first bucket of the game to put the Mountaineers on the board first, as the team then used a 13-0 run to start the game and never looked back. West Virginia led Longwood 17-2, before the Lancers stopped the run with a pair of free throws from Brown at the 4:40 mark. West Virginia finished the first quarter with a 21-7 advantage. Sixteen of the Mountaineers’ 21 points came from inside the paint, as Montgomery led the team with eight in the opening stanza.
In the second quarter, a layup by Roberson pushed the Mountaineers’ advantage to more than half, as the team led by 17 points with 4:17 left in the half. With under a minute to go in the period, Muldrow nailed a triple to give West Virginia the 39-19 lead at the half.
Holmes knocked down 6-of-9 from the field to lead West Virginia with 13 points at the half. Raven Williams led the Lancers with seven points at the break. The Mountaineers shot 48.6 percent (18-of-37) from the field, while holding the Lancers to 21.4 percent (6-of-28).
Holmes scored the Mountaineers’ first six points in the third quarter to put West Virginia up 45-25 with 5:40 left to play in the frame. Freshman Alexis Brewer nailed a trey from behind the arch, followed by an and-one from Martin at the 1:32 mark, as WVU edged LU 59-37 to close out the stanza.
West Virginia finished the game much like it began, as the Mountaineers held the Lancers to just six points in the final period. Since 2013-14, the Mountaineers have won 23 consecutive games against non-conference foes.
WVU opens the Florida Sunshine Classic against James Madison on Sunday, Dec. 20, in a 5 p.m. tilt, on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. WVU concludes pre-holiday play against Indiana on Monday, Dec. 21, with a scheduled tip time of 7:15 p.m. in Winter Park.
NOTES: West Virginia has won 23 consecutive games against non-conference opponents at the WVU Coliseum … the Mountaineers have won 12 consecutive games at the WVU Coliseum, which ranks sixth all-time … WVU is now 4-0 all-time against Longwood … Bria Holmes has registered double-figures in 77 career games, which is now in sole possession of 13th all-time at WVU … West Virginia has reached double-figure assists in nine of 10 games this season after recording 19 assists on Wednesday … Teana Muldrow finished the evening with 14 points, marking her fifth double-figure game of the season … Arielle Roberson netted a season-high nine points in the victory … Coach Mike Carey now has 593 career wins in 27 seasons, seven away from reaching his 600th career victory.