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WVU and Texas Tech Square Off Saturday
January 08, 2016 11:49 AM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women’s basketball team returns to the WVU Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 9, in a 7 p.m. contest with Texas Tech.
The Mountaineers (13-3, 2-1 Big 12) picked up a pair of road victories with wins at Kansas (65-45) and Kansas State (72-53). Texas Tech (9-5, 0-3) has lost its last three games, including a 69-46 setback to Oklahoma State on Wednesday.
Fans in attendance for Saturday’s game will receive a commemorative Mike Carey WVU All-Time Wins poster courtesy of United Bank. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting WVUGAME.com and selecting the print-at-home option or by calling the ticket office at 1-800-WVU GAME.
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 connected on 10 three-pointers, nine of which came in the first half, to defeat K-State. Bria Holmes registered a game-high 23 points, while freshman Tynice Martin picked up a season-best 16 points. Both Martin and Holmes combined for 8-of-12 behind the three-point line. Desiree Rhodes led WVU with nine rebounds.
The Mountaineers are averaging 72.7 points per game, while holding opponents to 56.1 points per contest. WVU is shooting 44.2 percent from the field, which ranks third in the Big 12 and 32nd in the NCAA. Defensively, WVU opponents are shooting just 33.7 percent from the field, which ranks as the nation’s 14th-best field goal percentage defense. This season, 14 of WVU’s 16 opponents have shot less than 38.6 percent from the field.
Holmes continues to lead the Mountaineer offensive attack with 17.3 points per game. The New Haven, Connecticut, native is fifth on WVU’s all-time scoring ledger with 1,688 points. She needs just 46 more points to pass Kate Bulger (1,733) for fourth all time.
Lanay Montgomery is averaging 9.5 points and 8.8 rebounds for the Mountaineers. The junior leads the league with a 61.2 field goal percentage. Montgomery is second in the league with 2.9 blocks per game. Teana Muldrow, who has missed the last two games, is WVU’s other double-figure scorer with 10.8 points per game.
West Virginia and Texas Tech meet for the eighth time on Saturday. The Lady Raiders won both regular season meetings last year. In the Big 12 Championship first round game, WVU came out on top with a 59-40 win over Texas Tech. None of the last six contests have been decided by single digits.
“We have 11 new players that don’t know what happened last year,” said coach Mike Carey. “I did tell them that we need to play well. They beat us a couple of times last year. They are going to come in here with a lot of confidence. It’s important right from the start to know that it’s a different year, different basketball team and a different outcome. It’s important our players do that immediately to start the game.”
The Lady Raiders are averaging 73.3 points per game, while giving up 62.1 points per contest. TTU is shooting 42.8 percent, while opponents have knocked down 37.1 percent from the field. Four Lady Raiders are in double figures with Ivonne CookTaylor leading the way with 13.3 points per contest. Freshman Japreece Dean is averaging 12.7 points per contest, while Rayven Brooks is boasting 12.2 ppg. Leashja Grant is averaging 11.1 points per contest and leads Tech with 7.5 rebounds per contest.
After Saturday’s contest, West Virginia returns to the road on Tuesday, Jan. 12, with an 8 p.m. ET tipoff at No. 6/7-ranked Baylor.
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