MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women’s basketball team welcomes Oklahoma State to the WVU Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 11, in the annual Play 4Kay pink game. Tipoff for the contest is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Admission to Saturday’s contest is free courtesy of WVU Medicine. Fans can print off a free ticket at
WVUGAME.com. All fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness. A new chuck-a-duck promotion will take place following the conclusion of the game. WVU Medicine will be selling numbered pink ducks to fans for $2 each and six ducks for $10. Following the game, fans can throw the ducks on the court, aiming for a center circle target. The fans who get their ducks the closest will win various prizes.
Those at Saturday's game will also have the opportunity to pick up the official 2016-17 pink t-shirt with a minimum donation of just $10. All proceeds from the t-shirts and chuck-a-duck promotion will go to the WVU Medicine Betty Puskar Breast Care Center.
Dan Zangrilli and Meg Bulger will have the call on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG. Fans can listen to various affiliates across the state (click here for full list), WVUsports.com, the WVU Gameday app and TuneIn. Also, a free video stream will be provided at WVUsports.com.
West Virginia (16-8, 4-8) and Oklahoma State (13-10, 3-9) meet for the first time this season on Saturday. Last season, the two squads split the series with OSU prevailing, 63-51, in Stillwater (Feb. 13, 2016) and WVU winning 82-48 in Morgantown (Feb. 27, 2016). Overall, WVU leads the all-time series, 6-4, and holds a 3-2 edge in Morgantown.
“We’re going to have to come out and play with energy,” coach Mike Carey said. “We have to stay out of foul trouble, especially in the post area because that’s their strength. Not having a deep bench, you have to stay out of foul trouble and all seven players have to stay healthy and be ready to play. Hopefully we can do that.”
Oklahoma State (13-10, 3-9) has dropped eight of its last nine games including four straight. Most recently, the Cowgirls suffered a 67-49 setback at Kansas on Wednesday. The Cowgirls are averaging 66.3 points per game and giving up 63.0 points per game. OSU is shooting 41.3 percent (551-of-1335) from the field and limiting opponents to 37.5 percent (526-of-1403). OSU is averaging 41.2 rebounds per game for a +6.0 rebounding margin.
Kaylee Jensen leads the Big 12 in seven statistical categories including points per game (18.7) and rebounds per game (10.6). Jensen also leads the team with 44 blocks. Other double-figure scorers include Mandy Coleman with 12.6 points per game and Karli Wheeler with 12.0 points per contest.
West Virginia is coming off a heartbreaking 90-87 double overtime loss at No. 19/20 Oklahoma on Tuesday. The Mountaineers led by as many as 15 before the Sooners came back to tie the game in the fourth quarter. Tynice Martin registered a career-high 35 points in the setback, marking the second-best single-game performance for a Mountaineer sophomore. Teana Muldrow also added 22 points and 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.
Martin is second in the Big 12 behind OSU’s Jensen with 17.6 points per game. Muldrow is second on the Mountaineers with 14.5 points per contest and is 40 points away from becoming the 33rd West Virginia player to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Senior center Lanay Montgomery continues to average 11.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Her 69.1 field goal percentage (121-of-175) is second in the NCAA, while her 3.1 blocks per game are 10th nationally. Chania Ray paces the conference with 5.7 assists per game and Alexis Brewer holds the league’s best three-point field goal percentage of 46.3 (25-of-54).
Following Saturday’s contest, West Virginia remains at home to play host to No. 25 Kansas State on Wednesday, Feb. 15. The 7 p.m. contest at the WVU Coliseum will be televised on ROOT SPORTS Pittsburgh.
