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No. 18 Women’s Hoops Faces No. 16 Texas
January 13, 2017 11:20 AM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - For a third time in the last four games, the No. 18/19-ranked West Virginia University women’s basketball team will face a ranked opponent when No. 16/17 Texas visits the WVU Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 14. Tipoff for the contest is slated for 4 p.m.
Saturday is Superhero and Alumni Day. Mountaineer fans are encouraged to dress as their favorite superhero. Halftime entertainment will be provided by Heroes4Higher. Batman and Batwoman will speak to kids about how to prevent bullying. The first 250 Mountaineer Kids Club members in attendance will receive a free WVU Superhero cape. Saturday is also Alumni Day. WVU will honor former coaches, players and staff during the contest.
Admission for Saturday’s contest is just $1 courtesy of United Bank. Tickets can be purchased online at WVUGAME.com or by calling the Mountaineer Ticket Office at 1-800-WVU GAME.
Dan Zangrilli and Meg Bulger will have the call on WMMN 920-AM in Morgantown/Fairmont, WVUsports.com and the WVU Gameday app. Also, a free video stream will be provided at WVUsports.com.
West Virginia and Texas square off for the 12th time on Saturday, with the Longhorns holding a 6-5 edge in the series. Texas (11-4, 5-0) swept the regular-season series and won in the Big 12 Championship semifinals last season.
No. 16/17 Texas (11-4, 5-0) has reeled off nine consecutive victories since beating Tennessee on Dec. 11. UT is 5-0 in Big 12 action, most recently picking up a 66-35 win over Oklahoma State on Tuesday. Karen Aston collected her 100th career win at Texas with the victory over the Cowgirls.
The Longhorns are averaging 73.5 points per game and surrendering just 57.3 points per game to opponents. UT is fourth nationally with a +13.5 rebound margin and 11th in the NCAA with 44.9 rebounds per game. The Longhorns are 18th in field goal percentage defense (34.6%) and 31st in field goal percentage (44.8%).
Brooke McCarty paces the Longhorns with 13.8 points, 34 three-pointers and 52 assists. Ariel Atkins is also in double-figures with 12.5 points per game. Freshman Joyner Holmes is averaging 10.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Kelsey Lang leads Texas with 9.1 rebounds per contest.
“They have all of their players back, plus a McDonald’s All-American (Joyner Holmes) at the four position,” coach Mike Carey said. “They come off the bench very deep. They’re very athletic. I’m going to make it simple. We are just going to look to play hard. We know we’ve got to keep them off the boards. We know what Texas does well. If we don’t play hard, it doesn’t really matter.”
Despite utilizing a 22-4 run in the fourth quarter, West Virginia fell, 75-66, at Texas Tech on Wednesday. Lanay Montgomery netted 18 points and Teana Muldrow pulled down 10 rebounds in the setback.
The Mountaineers rank in the NCAA Top 25 in six statistical categories, including No. 3 in blocked shots per game (6.9 bpg) and sixth in field goal percentage defense (33.4%). WVU is 10-1 at home this season and has reached 10 or more wins at home in four consecutive seasons.
Montgomery leads the nation with a 70.9 field goal percentage (90-of-127) and is fifth nationally with 3.5 blocked shots per game. Chania Ray paces the Big 12 and is 18th nationally with 6.6 assists per game. Tynice Martin continues to lead the Mountaineers with 17.8 points per game, followed by Muldrow’s 13.8 points per contest.
Following Saturday’s contest, WVU returns to the road with an 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT matchup at Kansas on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
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