Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Mountaineer Women Hitting Critical Stretch
February 14, 2018 02:36 PM | Women's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia is reaching the point in its season when wins mean everything and losses mean everything, too.
The Mountaineers, 18-7 overall and 6-7 in Big 12 play, probably need to win at least three of their remaining five regular-season games and avoid a one-and-done finish in the conference tournament to remain safe in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
"We have to win some games coming down the stretch here," West Virginia's Mike Carey said before Tuesday's practice. "It's either win or don't get into the NCAA Tournament."
There are certainly lots of positives on West Virginia's resume leading into Selection Monday on March 12.
Its RPI of 52 is not horrible, nor is its 71st-ranked strength of schedule which includes a road victory at No. 17 Texas A&M.
The Mountaineers also have one of the nation's top players in senior forward Teana Muldrow, the Big 12's third-leading scorer averaging 19.5 points per game.
Muldrow's escalator ride up the school scoring list now has her positioned ninth all-time with 1,607 career points heading into tonight's game against Kansas.
But on the down side, there are also lots of 200s and 300s sprinkled in West Virginia's win column, plus, the Mountaineers' 6-7 mark in Big 12 play is not too encouraging considering the conference is down a little bit this year with only three NCAA Tournament locks right now - Baylor, Texas and Oklahoma State.
West Virginia is the next Big 12 team in line and is clearly right at the cutoff.
Some mock NCAA Tournament brackets, such as ESPN.com's Charlie Creme, have West Virginia in as a No. 9 seed. Others, such as RealTime.RPI, have the Mountaineers on the outside looking in.
West Virginia is not going to get much help tonight against the 11-13 Jayhawks with an RPI of 165, according to RealTimeRPI.com.
But the Mountaineers can help themselves on Saturday when they play host to tough-luck Oklahoma, which is just 13-12 but has a very strong RPI of 30 playing the second-toughest schedule in the country.
A win at No. 84 Kansas State on Feb. 20 won't really move the needle much, but a home victory the following Saturday against No. 44 Oklahoma State would, as would a win at No. 6 Baylor to conclude the regular season.
Beating the Bears in Waco would be the magic bullet.
Any losses, of course, move the team even closer to the precipice.
"We've made it very clear to the team, 'Hey, this is what we need to do to go to the NCAA Tournament.' It's up to us whether we get in or don't get in," Carey said.
"I put it in both locker rooms - these are our games remaining, and we need to win so many. It's listed for them to see," Carey said. "They know it so there's no use acting like they don't know it."
That West Virginia is even within striking distance of its 11th NCAA Tournament bid since 2004 is remarkable in itself. This team was dealt a severe blow before the season even began when preseason All-Big 12 guard Tynice Martin broke her foot during the USA Team Trials in Colorado Springs and eventually was forced to have her junior season shut down completely last month.
She was universally considered one of the top-15 players in the game heading into the season.
Injuries to swing player Anja Martin and forward Krystaline McCune cut into West Virginia's bench, and in-season injuries to Kristina King and Chania Ray have now made things precarious for Carey.
King broke a small bone in her right foot during the Radford win and missed the next five games, including West Virginia's 60-52 home loss to Kansas State, before returning to the floor to help the Mountaineers defeat Iowa State.
She is still limping around campus and her practice time and work load is monitored closely by the athletic training staff.
And now Ray, one of the team's most versatile players, is dealing with a nagging right knee injury that is requiring her to sit out practices just to be healthy enough to play.
That leaves only three reasonably healthy starters - Teana Muldrow, Naomi Davenport and Katrina Pardee - plus reserves Ashley Jones, Theresa Ekhelar and Destiny Harden. When Carey looks to his bench for subs, he's usually looking down at empty chairs.
So, to be 18-7 at this point in the season considering what the Mountaineers have endured is an outstanding accomplishment in itself.
To end the year with 20 wins or more, and an NCAA bid, would make it one of the better coaching jobs Carey has done.
All of that is still within the Mountaineers' gunsight.
Carey has always been demanding and resourceful, this year more than most, and even he knows his players are reaching their limits.
"I'm proud of these girls," he said. "All coaches complain, and you want to win every game, but these girls have done everything I've asked. It's tough. To play our style and to play our defense for 40 minutes it's hard to do … and they try to do it."
They are going to have to dig a little deeper within themselves to find the energy to get through the next two weeks leading into the conference tournament.
Because what happens in these next 12 days is going to determine whether the Mountaineers are in, or whether they're out.
"A lot is still in front of us," Carey noted. "We can still meet our goals. We've got five (regular season) games left and it would be nice to win at least three games heading into the Big 12 Tournament. And we have three of those five games at home, too."
The Mountaineers, 18-7 overall and 6-7 in Big 12 play, probably need to win at least three of their remaining five regular-season games and avoid a one-and-done finish in the conference tournament to remain safe in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
"We have to win some games coming down the stretch here," West Virginia's Mike Carey said before Tuesday's practice. "It's either win or don't get into the NCAA Tournament."
There are certainly lots of positives on West Virginia's resume leading into Selection Monday on March 12.
Its RPI of 52 is not horrible, nor is its 71st-ranked strength of schedule which includes a road victory at No. 17 Texas A&M.
The Mountaineers also have one of the nation's top players in senior forward Teana Muldrow, the Big 12's third-leading scorer averaging 19.5 points per game.
Muldrow's escalator ride up the school scoring list now has her positioned ninth all-time with 1,607 career points heading into tonight's game against Kansas.
But on the down side, there are also lots of 200s and 300s sprinkled in West Virginia's win column, plus, the Mountaineers' 6-7 mark in Big 12 play is not too encouraging considering the conference is down a little bit this year with only three NCAA Tournament locks right now - Baylor, Texas and Oklahoma State.
West Virginia is the next Big 12 team in line and is clearly right at the cutoff.
Some mock NCAA Tournament brackets, such as ESPN.com's Charlie Creme, have West Virginia in as a No. 9 seed. Others, such as RealTime.RPI, have the Mountaineers on the outside looking in.
West Virginia is not going to get much help tonight against the 11-13 Jayhawks with an RPI of 165, according to RealTimeRPI.com.
But the Mountaineers can help themselves on Saturday when they play host to tough-luck Oklahoma, which is just 13-12 but has a very strong RPI of 30 playing the second-toughest schedule in the country.
A win at No. 84 Kansas State on Feb. 20 won't really move the needle much, but a home victory the following Saturday against No. 44 Oklahoma State would, as would a win at No. 6 Baylor to conclude the regular season.
Beating the Bears in Waco would be the magic bullet.
Any losses, of course, move the team even closer to the precipice.
"We've made it very clear to the team, 'Hey, this is what we need to do to go to the NCAA Tournament.' It's up to us whether we get in or don't get in," Carey said.
"I put it in both locker rooms - these are our games remaining, and we need to win so many. It's listed for them to see," Carey said. "They know it so there's no use acting like they don't know it."
That West Virginia is even within striking distance of its 11th NCAA Tournament bid since 2004 is remarkable in itself. This team was dealt a severe blow before the season even began when preseason All-Big 12 guard Tynice Martin broke her foot during the USA Team Trials in Colorado Springs and eventually was forced to have her junior season shut down completely last month.
She was universally considered one of the top-15 players in the game heading into the season.
Injuries to swing player Anja Martin and forward Krystaline McCune cut into West Virginia's bench, and in-season injuries to Kristina King and Chania Ray have now made things precarious for Carey.
King broke a small bone in her right foot during the Radford win and missed the next five games, including West Virginia's 60-52 home loss to Kansas State, before returning to the floor to help the Mountaineers defeat Iowa State.
She is still limping around campus and her practice time and work load is monitored closely by the athletic training staff.
And now Ray, one of the team's most versatile players, is dealing with a nagging right knee injury that is requiring her to sit out practices just to be healthy enough to play.
That leaves only three reasonably healthy starters - Teana Muldrow, Naomi Davenport and Katrina Pardee - plus reserves Ashley Jones, Theresa Ekhelar and Destiny Harden. When Carey looks to his bench for subs, he's usually looking down at empty chairs.
So, to be 18-7 at this point in the season considering what the Mountaineers have endured is an outstanding accomplishment in itself.
To end the year with 20 wins or more, and an NCAA bid, would make it one of the better coaching jobs Carey has done.
All of that is still within the Mountaineers' gunsight.
Carey has always been demanding and resourceful, this year more than most, and even he knows his players are reaching their limits.
"I'm proud of these girls," he said. "All coaches complain, and you want to win every game, but these girls have done everything I've asked. It's tough. To play our style and to play our defense for 40 minutes it's hard to do … and they try to do it."
They are going to have to dig a little deeper within themselves to find the energy to get through the next two weeks leading into the conference tournament.
Because what happens in these next 12 days is going to determine whether the Mountaineers are in, or whether they're out.
"A lot is still in front of us," Carey noted. "We can still meet our goals. We've got five (regular season) games left and it would be nice to win at least three games heading into the Big 12 Tournament. And we have three of those five games at home, too."
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