Niblack Has Career Day in Win Over EKU

Saturday, December 15

Charleston, W.Va.

4:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

6-2

Eastern Kentucky

1-9

Eastern Kentucky

West Virginia

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

December 15, 2018 06:38 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Joe Mitchin

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women's basketball team scored 20 of the game's first 22 points and never looked back in a 78-29 win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

Four Mountaineers finished in double figures, led by freshman forward Kari Niblack, who earned her first career double-double with a career-high 18 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard/forward Naomi Davenport added 16 points, while redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Madison Smith finished with 10 points.

WVU (6-2) never trailed in its second win of the season over Eastern Kentucky. The Mountaineers also took down EKU, 81-39, on Nov. 24, at the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, Bahamas.

"My biggest concern was that we were going to play down," WVU coach Mike Carey said. "When you beat a team by 40 earlier in the season, then it's easy to play down. Give them credit, they battled. They ran a lot of good sets that we didn't do a good job of defending, they just missed shots. Give them some credit. We hit shots, we forced some shots, especially in the second quarter. Overall, you just want to get through this without injuries and get on to the next game."

Smith got things going early when she found a slashing Davenport for a layup and the game's first points. On the next trip down, Davenport swished a 3-pointer, giving WVU the early 5-0 lead.

The Mountaineers went on to score the game's first 10 points before the Colonels (1-9) got on the scoreboard for the first time at the 5:32 mark. From there, Smith and junior guard Lucky Rudd, who made her WVU debut on Saturday, made back-to-back 3s to extend the Mountaineer lead to 16-2.

Then, Niblack got going, making a pair of buckets close to the hoop, before Pardee knocked down a shot from the elbow to give the Mountaineers a 22-7 lead after 10 minutes. Eastern Kentucky shot just 3-of-11 in the opening frame, while committing eight turnovers.

Senior center Theresa Ekhelar's three-point play got the second quarter off on a good note for the Mountaineers, who stretched the lead to 20 when Smith made an easy layup on a fast break with 3:41 to play before halftime.

On the defensive end, West Virginia held EKU without a field goal for a stretch of nearly seven minutes in the second period. The Colonels shot just 23 percent from the field in the opening half, as WVU headed to the locker room with a 35-16 lead.

WVU opened the second half on a 12-0 run, featuring a jumper and 3-pointer from Martin, a layup from Davenport and five total points from Niblack and Rudd. Martin's 3 made it a 30-point game at 36-16 with 5:49 to play in the period, while Eastern Kentucky's first points of the half didn't come until a made free throw at the 3:53 mark of the period. The Colonels didn't make a shot from the floor in the second half until a 3-pointer with 1:05 to play until the fourth.

WVU went on to outscore EKU, 14-4, in the third period and took a 49-20 advantage into the final 10 minutes of play.

But the Mountaineers weren't done there. West Virginia scored the first 17 points of the fourth quarter to completely blow the game open. Smith and Martin each made shots from downtown to help the cause, allowing the team to coast to the nonconference victory.

West Virginia held a 43-13 scoring advantage after halftime, aided by a season-high 29 points in the fourth quarter.

WVU finished 27-of-57 (47.4%) from the field, combining for nine makes from beyond the arc. The Mountaineers also outrebounded EKU, 46-37, and they forced 20 Colonel turnovers. West Virginia finished 15-of-21 at the free-throw line.

EKU was led by Catie Kaifes' eight points. The Colonels shot just 11-of-55 (20%) in the affair, and it made just three of its 14 free-throw attempts.

The Mountaineers return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 18, as they host Morgan State at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Notes: The Mountaineers played at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center for the 36th time since 1980 on Saturday … WVU improved to 25-11 all-time in Charleston with the win … West Virginia has played at least one game in Charleston every year since 1992 … WVU has now won 12 consecutive regular-season games in Charleston … WVU improved to 4-2 all-time against Eastern Kentucky and 13-3 all-time against the Ohio Valley Conference … EKU shot just 1-of-16 (6.3%) in the third quarter, the lowest opponent field goal percentage in a quarter in Mountaineer history … freshman forward Kari Niblack recorded her first career double-double (18 points, 12 rebounds) … junior guard Lucky Rudd made her WVU debut, finishing with eight points … redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin finished with 14 points, her eighth consecutive game in double figures.