MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women’s basketball team opens its fourth season of Big 12 Conference action on Wednesday, Dec. 30, in a 7 p.m. contest with No. 5/6-ranked Texas at the WVU Coliseum.
On Monday evening, the Mountaineers (11-2) picked up their ninth consecutive victory with a 67-57 triumph over Elon. Texas (11-0) remains unblemished this season and has three victories over Top 25 teams.
Admission to Wednesday’s game is $1 courtesy of United Bank. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting WVUGAME.com and selecting the print-at-home option or calling the ticket office at 1-800-WVU GAME.
The annual Teddy Bear Toss will also be held after Wednesday’s game. Fans are invited to bring new or gently used teddy bears and other stuffed animals to toss on the court at the game. All donated items will be distributed by the City of Morgantown Police and Monongalia County Sherriff’s Office to child victims of crime and trauma.
A free video stream link will be provided at WVUsports.com. 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.
West Virginia never trailed in the victory over Elon, as the Mountaineers claimed their 13th consecutive victory inside the Coliseum and their 24th win over non-conference opponents in Morgantown. Lanay Montgomery notched a career-high 21 points, while grabbing nine rebounds. Her perfect 9-of-9 from the field tied five others for a WVU single-game record. Bria Holmes added 19 points, while Teana Muldrow contributed with a season-best 10 rebounds.
“We had a lot unforced turnovers against Elon,” said coach Mike Carey. “I was frustrated with that. We’ve got to box out and rebound. They’re going to see what I’m talking about when we play Texas. We have to keep them off the offensive boards, which we didn’t do a good job of on Monday. We’ve got to play a really good game against Texas.”
Defense has been key to the Mountaineers’ success this season, as WVU’s field goal percentage defense of 37.2 ranks second in the Big 12 and 11th nationally. Only Indiana has shot higher than 40 percent from the field vs. West Virginia this season.
The Mountaineers are scoring an average of 74.7 points per game and limiting their opponents to 56.3 points. WVU’s 45.1 field goal percentage is third in the league.
Holmes continues to pace the Mountaineers with 17.5 points per contest, which ranks third in the Big 12. She is two points away from passing Liz Repella (1,640) for No. 7 and needs 17 more to pass Donna Abbott (1,656) for No. 6 on the program’s all-time scoring ledger.
Montgomery is averaging 10.8 points and 9.3 rebounds, while pacing the league with 3.0 blocks per game. Sophomore Teana Muldrow continues to boast 11.2 points per game and leads the Mountaineers with 28 steals.
Texas and West Virginia meet for the ninth time on Wednesday, as WVU owns a 5-3 edge in the series. The two teams met previously on March 1, 2015 at the Coliseum with WVU prevailing in overtime, 76-69. Since the first meeting in 2012, six of the eight previous meetings have been decided by seven points or less. West Virginia owns a 3-0 mark in Morgantown.
Texas has won its first 11 games this season. The Longhorns have produced Top 25 wins over No. 4/5 Tennessee, No. 9 Mississippi State and No. 14/12 Stanford. UT is averaging 74.6 points per game and is second in the league with a 51.9 scoring defense.
Rebounding has been a forte for the Longhorns this season as they have outmanned their opponents with a +14.1 margin, which is eighth nationally.
Brooke McCarty paces Texas with 12.1 points. Imani Boyette follows with 11.7 points per game and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds per game. Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year Lashann Higgs is averaging 9.5 points, 2.4 blocks and 2.0 steals in 11 contests.
After Wednesday’s contest, West Virginia will open a two-game road swing. The Mountaineers visit Kansas on Sunday, Jan. 3, and Kansas State on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
