WVU Falls to Sooners in Big 12 Quarterfinals
March 07, 2015 10:23 PM | General
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DALLAS - The No. 7-seed West Virginia University women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a slow start in the first half, falling 67-55 to No. 2-seed Oklahoma in the quarterfinal round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Saturday evening at the American Airlines Center.
Oklahoma (20-10) closed out the opening half on a 23-9 run to take a 14-point lead in the locker room. The Mountaineers (18-14) cut the game to single digits seven times in the second half, including trimming the game to seven with less than five minutes remaining. The Sooners pushed their lead back to 12, securing a berth to the Big 12 Championship semifinals.
“They could have ran anything the first half,” said coach Mike Carey. “We just didn't defend the first half and when we don't defend and we don't get turnovers and get our running game going. We struggled to score on the other end, too. Our defense leads to offense and we wasn't creating any.”
A trio of Mountaineers tallied double-figures with junior guard Bria Holmes leading the way with 17 points and seven assists. Averee Fields followed with 12 points, while Bre McDonald posted 12. Despite playing just 14 minutes, Lanay Montgomery corralled nine rebounds and blocked a shot. Senior Linda Stepney dished out six assists, scored five and collected a pair of steals.
The two squads both shot near even with OU knocking down 37.3 percent (20-of-53) and WVU 36.4 percent (20-of-55). The Sooners outrebounded WVU 40-32. OU scored 26 points in the paint and notched 22 second chance points.
West Virginia made program history with its five blocks in the game. The Mountaineers now have 210 blocks, which broke a single-season record of 207 set by the 1984 squad.
Oklahoma held an early lead and went on a seven-point run. Peyton Little had five of those seven points as OU pushed its edge to 11-4 with 13:50 left in the opening half.
West Virginia proceeded on a 7-0 run, capped by a Holmes triple to tie the game 11-11 with under 12 minutes left in first half.
The Sooners once again found another quick eight-point spurt to lead 19-11 with eight minutes remaining. That run would be a 19-5 run that helped OU hold a 34-20 lead at the break.
Second chance points were dominated by Oklahoma, 18-4, in the opening half. The Mountaineers made 7-of-25 from the field for 28 percent, while OU finished 10-of-30 for 33.3 percent. The Sooners also hit 11-of-12 free throws for 91.7 percent. Holmes led West Virginia with nine points, while Little had 10 for Oklahoma.
McDonald’s triple at the 15:29 mark cut the Mountaineers deficit to nine, 39-30. The Mountaineers again pulled within 10 thanks to a Holmes bucket at the 11:44 mark.
Holmes made a trey at 4:56 capped a 6-0 run for West Virginia and cut the deficit to 57-50. However, OU responded with seven straight points to push the lead back to 13. West Virginia did cut it back to nine with 1:31 remaining, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Sooners’ lead. Four Sooners had double-figures, as Kaylon Williams led OU with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Mountaineers’ postseason fate will be determined on Monday, March 16. Stay tuned to WVUsports.com for the latest information.
NOTES:
WVU is 3-3 all-time in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, and has advanced to the championship quarterfinals 11 of the last 12 years … the Mountaineers are 5-6 all-time at the No. 7-seed in conference tournament play, and are 0-2 all-time against the Sooners in Big 12 tournament action … West Virginia (210) broke the school record for single-season blocks first set in 1984 … junior guard Bria Holmes paced the Mountaineers with 17 points, as she has scored double-figures in 34 of her last 35 games Linda Stepney made her 125th career start on Saturday.
WVU is 3-3 all-time in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, and has advanced to the championship quarterfinals 11 of the last 12 years … the Mountaineers are 5-6 all-time at the No. 7-seed in conference tournament play, and are 0-2 all-time against the Sooners in Big 12 tournament action … West Virginia (210) broke the school record for single-season blocks first set in 1984 … junior guard Bria Holmes paced the Mountaineers with 17 points, as she has scored double-figures in 34 of her last 35 games Linda Stepney made her 125th career start on Saturday.
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