MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women’s basketball team completes a stretch of playing three consecutive top-25 teams with a visit to No. 8/7-ranked Texas on Sunday, Feb. 21. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT in Austin, Texas.
Sunday’s game is televised locally on ROOT SPORTS Pittsburgh and regionally on FOX Sports Net. Jeff Culhane and Liz Repella will call the action on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG. Listen to the contest on various affiliates across the state, online at WVUsports.com or by using the TuneIn Radio app.
For the first time this season, the Mountaineers (20-7, 9-5 Big 12) defeated a top-25 team with a 63-55 win over No. 20/21 Oklahoma on Wednesday. WVU led by as many as 16 points, before the scrappy Sooners fought back to cut the game to four with three minutes remaining. West Virginia held strong down the stretch and picked up its 10th 20-win season under coach Mike Carey. Bria Holmes paced the Mountaineers with 14 points, while Tynice Martin contributed with 12. Arielle Roberson pulled in 14 rebounds, tallied nine points, collected five steals and blocked three shots against the Sooners. WVU is tied for third in the Big 12 with Oklahoma State.
As typical with a Carey-led team, defense has been one of the Mountaineers biggest strengths this season. The Mountaineers are third in the league and 34th nationally with a 56.3 scoring defense. WVU’s field goal percentage defense of 33.6 is second in the league and sixth nationally. Opponents are shooting just 26.5 percent from behind the three-point line, which is tops in the Big 12 and 22nd in the NCAA. The Mountaineers also lead the league and are sixth nationally with 6.3 blocks per game. Offensively, the team’s 43.8 field goal percentage is second in the league, while WVU’s 70.1 points per game are fifth.
Holmes, a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, leads the Mountaineers with 16.6 points and 3.4 assists per game. She is the Big 12’s active career scoring leader with 1,860 points. The New Haven, Connecticut, native is just 52 points away from becoming the first Mountaineer to tally 500 or more points in three different seasons.
Lanay Montgomery leads West Virginia with an average of 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. Montgomery is second in the Big 12 with a 61.0 field goal percentage. Roberson, who has reached double-figure rebounds in the last four games, is third in Big 12-only games with 9.9 rebounds per contest.
In the first meeting of the season on Dec. 30, Texas jumped out to a 10-point lead over the Mountaineers and collected a 65-54 victory over WVU in Morgantown. Senior center Imani Boyette tallied 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the win. Martin led the Mountaineers with 15 points.
“They beat us on the boards here,” said coach Carey. “Once again, we have to be physical in the paint. The game is going to be won or lost in the paint. If you can control the paint on both ends, then you have a good chance of winning the basketball game. Texas is tough at home. We will have our hands full, but we welcome the challenge.”
Texas (23-2, 12-2 Big 12) bounced back from an upset loss to Oklahoma last week with a 58-51 win over Kansas State on Wednesday. The Longhorns are second place in the Big 12 and are within one game of tying first place Baylor.
UT is averaging 72.0 points per game and holding opponents to 54.7 points per contest. The Longhorns are pulling in an average of 42.3 rebounds per game, which is second in the Big 12. Boyette leads Texas with 12.3 points per game, 9.4 rebounds per game and 3.3 blocks per game. Brooke McCarthy and Ariel Atkins are also averaging double-figures with 11.7 points and 10.2 points, respectively.
Following Saturday’s game, West Virginia opens a two-game homestand with starting TCU on Wednesday, Feb. 24, in a 7 p.m. tilt at the WVU Coliseum.
