Tuesday, December 18
Morgantown, W.Va.
7:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
7-2
72
vs
37
Morgan State
1-11
1
2
3
4
F
Morgan State
6
5
13
13
37
West Virginia
22
15
21
14
72
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU Downs MSU Behind Ekhelar’s Double-Double
December 18, 2018 09:28 PM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Led by senior center Theresa Ekhelar's double-double, the West Virginia University women's basketball team defeated the Morgan State Bears, 72-37, on Tuesday night at the WVU Coliseum.
Ekhelar had a career-high 15 rebounds, adding 11 points as well. It was the first double-double performance of her career.
Senior forward Naomi Davenport led the scoring with 16 points, shooting 7-of-10 in the game and adding seven rebounds and three blocks. Redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin had 11 points, while senior guard Katrina Pardee rounded out the players in double figures with 10 points.
The Mountaineers (7-2) shot 47.4 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from downtown, holding a 40-28 advantage on the glass.
"(It was a) tough game to play," coach Mike Carey said. "They just spread you out, took a lot of time off the shot clock, then tried to score. Congratulations to (senior center) Theresa (Ekhelar), her first double-double. That was good to see. (I) tried to rest a lot of people. We have another game, not tomorrow, but the next day, so I tried to get some people some rest."
West Virginia started the game on a 9-0 run before Morgan State got on the board with a jumper with just over four minutes to play in the first. Davenport countered with a 3-pointer, while junior guard Lucky Rudd added a 3-point play after drawing the foul on a layup, making it 15-2 in favor of the Mountaineers with 3:22 remaining in the first.
Following an MSU layup, a pair of free throws by Pardee put the lead back into double figures at 17-6 with just under two to go in the first. The Mountaineers capped the quarter with a fast-break layup by freshman guard Madisen Smith as they found themselves up 22-6 after 10 minutes of action.
After tallying 10 points in the first quarter, Davenport added two in the paint before Smith made it a 20-point lead with a fast-break layup for a 26-6 WVU advantage less than 90 seconds into the frame. Davenport made another layup, followed by a jumper from Martin to add to the lead. Morgan State hit its first shot from the field with 2:12 to play, but West Virginia responded with a layup and a 3-point play, both from Ekhelar for a 27-point advantage. The Bears hit a free throw to end the quarter, but WVU took a 37-11 lead into the break after two quarters.
WVU drained three straight triples to start with the third with a pair coming from Pardee and the last from Martin, pushing the lead to 33 points with 7:46 remaining. The teams traded points throughout the quarter, with a layup from Ekhelar putting the score at 54-24 with 2:34 to play in the third. The two freshmen finished out the frame, as both Smith and freshman forward Kari Niblack hit late jumpers as the Mountaineers led 58-24 after three quarters of play.
Niblack opened fourth-quarter scoring with a layup at the 8:30 mark but would not score again until 4:56 remained in the game. Despite their slow start to the fourth quarter of play, the Mountaineer offense got going again in the final five minutes. Led by Rudd's five points, West Virginia scored 11 points down the final stretch and coasted to the finish line, leading by as many as 37 with 39 seconds left to go.
The Bears (1-11) shot 28.3 percent from the field and were led by Adre'onia Coleman's 14 points.
West Virginia returns to action on Thursday, when the Mountaineers play host to Towson as part of Christmas at the Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Ekhelar had a career-high 15 rebounds, adding 11 points as well. It was the first double-double performance of her career.
Senior forward Naomi Davenport led the scoring with 16 points, shooting 7-of-10 in the game and adding seven rebounds and three blocks. Redshirt junior guard Tynice Martin had 11 points, while senior guard Katrina Pardee rounded out the players in double figures with 10 points.
The Mountaineers (7-2) shot 47.4 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from downtown, holding a 40-28 advantage on the glass.
"(It was a) tough game to play," coach Mike Carey said. "They just spread you out, took a lot of time off the shot clock, then tried to score. Congratulations to (senior center) Theresa (Ekhelar), her first double-double. That was good to see. (I) tried to rest a lot of people. We have another game, not tomorrow, but the next day, so I tried to get some people some rest."
West Virginia started the game on a 9-0 run before Morgan State got on the board with a jumper with just over four minutes to play in the first. Davenport countered with a 3-pointer, while junior guard Lucky Rudd added a 3-point play after drawing the foul on a layup, making it 15-2 in favor of the Mountaineers with 3:22 remaining in the first.
Following an MSU layup, a pair of free throws by Pardee put the lead back into double figures at 17-6 with just under two to go in the first. The Mountaineers capped the quarter with a fast-break layup by freshman guard Madisen Smith as they found themselves up 22-6 after 10 minutes of action.
After tallying 10 points in the first quarter, Davenport added two in the paint before Smith made it a 20-point lead with a fast-break layup for a 26-6 WVU advantage less than 90 seconds into the frame. Davenport made another layup, followed by a jumper from Martin to add to the lead. Morgan State hit its first shot from the field with 2:12 to play, but West Virginia responded with a layup and a 3-point play, both from Ekhelar for a 27-point advantage. The Bears hit a free throw to end the quarter, but WVU took a 37-11 lead into the break after two quarters.
WVU drained three straight triples to start with the third with a pair coming from Pardee and the last from Martin, pushing the lead to 33 points with 7:46 remaining. The teams traded points throughout the quarter, with a layup from Ekhelar putting the score at 54-24 with 2:34 to play in the third. The two freshmen finished out the frame, as both Smith and freshman forward Kari Niblack hit late jumpers as the Mountaineers led 58-24 after three quarters of play.
Niblack opened fourth-quarter scoring with a layup at the 8:30 mark but would not score again until 4:56 remained in the game. Despite their slow start to the fourth quarter of play, the Mountaineer offense got going again in the final five minutes. Led by Rudd's five points, West Virginia scored 11 points down the final stretch and coasted to the finish line, leading by as many as 37 with 39 seconds left to go.
The Bears (1-11) shot 28.3 percent from the field and were led by Adre'onia Coleman's 14 points.
West Virginia returns to action on Thursday, when the Mountaineers play host to Towson as part of Christmas at the Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Team Stats
MSUW
WVU
FG%
.283
.474
3FG%
.143
.333
FT%
.556
.765
RB
28
40
TO
17
12
STL
2
12
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
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