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Morton Leads West Virginia Past Kansas
January 03, 2016 06:15 PM | Women's Basketball
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Senior Jessica Morton’s season-high 18 points led the West Virginia University women’s basketball team to a 65-45 victory at Kansas on Sunday afternoon inside Allen Fieldhouse.
The game remained within single digits during the first 15 minutes of play. A Desiree Rhodes three-pointer at 5:29 in the second quarter sparked a 13-0 Mountaineer run, as West Virginia led 36-17 at halftime. WVU (12-3, 1-1) stretched its lead to 28 in the fourth quarter, as the Mountaineers picked up their first Big 12 win of the season. Kansas fell to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in league action.
Morton went 7-of-10 from the field, which included 3-of-3 behind the arc. The Augusta, Georgia, native finished just four points shy of her career-high. Bria Holmes netted 13 points and three assists in the win. The senior guard is now tied with Meg Bulger for fifth all-time on WVU’s scoring ledger with 1,665 career points.
Katrina Pardee made four of her five field goal attempts, finishing with nine points. Lanay Montgomery tallied eight points, six rebounds and four blocks. Senior Arielle Roberson had a stout defensive game with a team-leading seven rebounds and six steals in 36 minutes. Rhodes added a season-high five points and four steals.
WVU knocked down 25-of-53 from the field for 47.2 percent, while connecting on 9-of-20 behind the arc for 45.0 percent. Kansas became the 13th WVU opponent this season to shoot less than 40 percent from the field, making 17-of-44 for 38.6 percent. The Jayhawks won the rebound battle 32-28, but committed 22 turnovers resulting in 21 West Virginia points. WVU collected 14 steals, 13 assists and eight blocks. WVU's bench outscored Kansas, 31-7.
Kansas’ Lauren Aldridge scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed four rebounds, as KU dropped its fourth consecutive game.
“In the first half, I thought defensively we did what we needed to do, but in the second half we stood around a little bit,” said coach Mike Carey. “Kansas is very young, we are too. If you look at our roster, 11 out of 14 are new to our squad this year. I was impressed with Jessica (Morton) coming off the bench and she did very well and so did Desiree Rhodes.”
West Virginia opened the contest on a 9-2 run. Seven of WVU’s first nine points came off the hands of Pardee. Holmes hit a three-pointer under five minutes to stretch WVU’s advantage to 12-4. The Jayhawks finished the period on a 6-2 run, including an Aldridge trey to finish the quarter.
In the second quarter, WVU used a 13-0 spurt spanning the last five minutes to take a commanding 36-17 halftime advantage. WVU forced six turnovers during that stretch, which included a Morton steal and layup. The Mountaineers are 12-0 this season when leading at the half.
Offensively, WVU knocked down 46.9 percent (15-of-32) from the field in the first half and made 6-of-12 (50 percent) behind the arc. KU was limited to 28.0 percent (7-of-25) shooting and committed 15 turnovers that resulted in 16 West Virginia points. Morton and Pardee each had nine points to lead WVU at the half, while Aldridge netted nine for the Jayhawks.
The third quarter was much closer as WVU outscored Kansas, 16-10. An Alexis Brewer three-pointer with a minute remaining in the period gave West Virginia a 26-point lead.
Morton’s three-pointer at the 6:33 in the fourth quarter pushed WVU’s lead to its largest of the game at 28. KU would outscore the Mountaineers 18-13 in the final frame. Sunday’s victory snapped a six-game losing skid on the road for West Virginia, marking the first Mountaineer road win since beating Oklahoma State, 61-49, on Jan. 17, 2015.
West Virginia concludes its two-game road swing at Kansas State (10-3, 0-2) on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas. The contest with the Wildcats will air on FOX College Sports Central or can be viewed by using the FOX Sports Go app.
NOTES: West Virginia is 12-0 when leading at the half … Jessica Morton’s 18 points were a season-high passing her previous best of 10 against Texas … Desiree Rhodes netted a season-high five points and four steals in 21 minutes … Arielle Roberson’s six steals were a season-high … WVU now leads the series 5-4 versus Kansas … The Mountaineers snapped a six-game losing skid on the road, collecting their first road victory since upending Oklahoma State, 61-49, on Jan. 17, 2015 ... Coach Mike Carey now has 597 total wins in his career, three away from reaching 600.
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