West Virginia Wins Thriller over ISU
February 21, 2015 03:12 PM | General
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Redshirt freshman Teana Muldrow hit a game-winning jumper with five seconds remaining to help West Virginia women’s basketball complete a 54-52 comeback victory over Iowa State on Saturday afternoon in the annual Play 4Kay pink game and Alumni Day at the WVU Coliseum.
A slow offensive first half had the Mountaineers (16-11, 6-9 Big 12) down by 17 with two-plus minutes remaining. West Virginia whittled the deficit to 36-26 at the break. With just 10 minutes remaining in the game, WVU climbed back to take a brief one-point lead. However, the Cyclones (16-10, 7-8) would cling to at least a four-point advantage until Muldrow’s made free throw tied the game at the 3:19 mark.
Two minutes later, senior Linda Stepney connected on another free throw to put WVU up 51-50. Cyclones star Nikki Moody hit a jumper seven seconds later giving Iowa State the lead.
On WVU’s final offensive possession, junior guard Bria Holmes missed a jumper. Muldrow quickly grabbed the offensive rebound and scored, drawing the and-one opportunity. After Muldrow’s made freebie, Holmes snatched the third steal of the day to seal the Mountaineers’ 13th win at home.
“That’s what we’re used to here at West Virginia,” said coach Mike Carey. “Sometimes you get down and things aren’t going your way, but you have to continue to fight and play defense and get after it. We did that today. They only scored 16 points in the second half. I thought we did a good job defensively, and we handled their pick-and-rolls pretty well in the second half.”
Four Mountaineers reached double figures, with Stepney posting 14 points, dishing out six assists and grabbing four rebounds. Averee Fields followed with 12 points, five rebounds, four steals, three blocks and three assists. Holmes (11) and Muldrow rounded out the double-figure scorers. Muldrow also led WVU with a team-best six rebounds.
Saturday’s win marked the first time in over a year that West Virginia had climbed backed from a double-digit deficit. Iowa State was held to just 16 second half points. The Mountaineers shot 29.0 percent (18-of-62) from the field, while ISU connected on 35.8 percent (19-of-53). WVU forced 17 Cyclone turnovers, scoring 12 points. Also, the Mountaineers narrowly won the rebound column, 42-40.
West Virginia jumped out to a 6-3 edge with in the first two minutes of the game. Both teams traded baskets until Iowa State utilized an 18-2 run to take a commanding 15-point edge. Free throws from Bre McDonald cut the game to single digits in the final minute. ISU took a 36-26 lead at halftime, shooting 45.2 percent (14-of-31) from the field.
WVU was limited to 27.6 percent (8-of-29) shooting from the field. Stepney and Fields each had eight points for West Virginia, while ISU’s Seanna Johnson had a game-high 12.
In the second half, WVU continued to fight back the double-digit deficit. Muldrow’s triple at the 10:56 mark put the game within a one-point reach. Just 39 seconds later, Holmes hit a layup to give West Virginia its first lead since early in the first half.
Iowa State maintained at least a four-point lead throughout the majority of the second half. With just 3:19 left, Muldrow hit a crucial free throw to tie the game. Exactly two minutes later, Stepney found the charity stripe and made one to give WVU a 51-50 edge. Moody quickly responded with her own jumper at 1:12, giving Iowa State a 53-52 lead. Moody finished with a game-high 15 points for the Cyclones. Holmes missed a jumper with eight seconds remaining. Muldrow quickly found the rebound, scored and connected on the and-one. Holmes swiped the inbound pass as WVU picked up its 16th win this season.
West Virginia hits the road for an 8 p.m. ET contest at TCU on Tuesday, Feb. 24. The game will air regionally on Fox Sports Southwest Plus.
NOTES:
WVU wore pink in support of breast cancer awareness and the annual Play 4Kay pink game … WVU also had several former players in attendance for Alumni Day … West Virginia owns a 13-3 mark at home, as the Mountaineers overcame a 10-point deficit at the half to defeat Iowa State, 54-52, in the final four seconds … West Virginia marked its first victory this season when trailing by 10 or more points at the half … the last time WVU overcame a 10 or more point deficit at the half was against TCU (61-57) on February 16, 2014 … WVU split this season’s Big 12 series with Iowa State, as the team pushed their all-time series lead to 5-2 … the Mountaineers held Iowa State to just 16 points in the second half … the Cyclones have lost six of its last seven games … WVU is 12-2 this season when holding its opponents to less than 60 points … the Mountaineers shot 29 percent from the field (18-62), holding Iowa State to 35.8 percent (19-53) … WVU is 5-1 when having four players reach double figures … senior Linda Stepney (14), Averee Fields (12), junior Bria Holmes (11) and freshman Teana Muldrow (10) each scored double-digits this afternoon, respectively … Stepney was four of nine from the field, draining three three-pointers to mark her first double-digit game since January 28 at Texas Tech … Holmes has scored double-figures in 29 of her last 30 games … Averee Fields brought family friend and breast cancer survivor Annazette Houston into the postgame media room .
WVU wore pink in support of breast cancer awareness and the annual Play 4Kay pink game … WVU also had several former players in attendance for Alumni Day … West Virginia owns a 13-3 mark at home, as the Mountaineers overcame a 10-point deficit at the half to defeat Iowa State, 54-52, in the final four seconds … West Virginia marked its first victory this season when trailing by 10 or more points at the half … the last time WVU overcame a 10 or more point deficit at the half was against TCU (61-57) on February 16, 2014 … WVU split this season’s Big 12 series with Iowa State, as the team pushed their all-time series lead to 5-2 … the Mountaineers held Iowa State to just 16 points in the second half … the Cyclones have lost six of its last seven games … WVU is 12-2 this season when holding its opponents to less than 60 points … the Mountaineers shot 29 percent from the field (18-62), holding Iowa State to 35.8 percent (19-53) … WVU is 5-1 when having four players reach double figures … senior Linda Stepney (14), Averee Fields (12), junior Bria Holmes (11) and freshman Teana Muldrow (10) each scored double-digits this afternoon, respectively … Stepney was four of nine from the field, draining three three-pointers to mark her first double-digit game since January 28 at Texas Tech … Holmes has scored double-figures in 29 of her last 30 games … Averee Fields brought family friend and breast cancer survivor Annazette Houston into the postgame media room .
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