Mountaineers Defeat Hawks in WNIT

Sunday, March 18

Morgantown, W.Va.

2:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

23-11

Saint Joseph's

19-15

Saint Joseph's

West Virginia

Photo by: MG Ellis

March 18, 2018 05:59 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Ashley Bailey

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Four starters finished in double figures as the West Virginia women's basketball team rolled to its second WNIT win with a 79-51 triumph of Saint Joseph's on Sunday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.

Junior guard/forward Naomi Davenport had a team-high 18 points, while senior forward Kristina King went 7-of-9 for 15 points. Junior guard Katrina Pardee hit a pair of 3-pointers and went 3-for-3 from the foul line on her way to 15 points, and senior forward Teana Muldrow posted her 14th double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior guard Chania Ray dished out eight assists, while freshman forward Destiny Harden tied her career high for the second straight game with eight points, going 4-of-5 from the field.

West Virginia (23-11) shot just under 50.9 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Mountaineers went 16-for-17 at the foul line to shoot 94.1 percent, tying for their second-best showing of the season. WVU outrebounded SJU, 32-24, outscored the Hawks in the paint, 34-28, and forced 22 turnovers. They've forced 45 turnovers in the WNIT thus far.

"I thought we started the game very tense. Defensively, I thought we started the game very up the lanes and took them out of their stuff," coach Mike Carey said. "Our bench didn't come off and do what we needed do from the bench, especially defensively and offensively, but we did what we had to do to win. We have James Madison coming here, which is playing very well right now, so we will have our hands full on Thursday. Give Saint Joe's credit, we made runs and they did well. We were switching and they did some good things against our switches so give them credit too. (They're) very well coached."

The Mountaineers started the first quarter on a 6-0 run. Pardee was fouled hitting a 3-pointer and made the ensuing free throw to make it 10 straight for WVU, who kept Saint Joseph's off the board until midway through the quarter. After layups from Muldrow and Harden, the Hawks ended the first frame on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to single digits. WVU led it, 17-10, heading into the second.

Pardee remained on a roll in the second, as she stole the ball from SJU's Amanda Fioravanti and took it down the other end for the layup. Davenport nailed back-to-back triples, then added two from the foul line on a 6-2 run that put WVU's lead into double digits at 29-17. Muldrow hit the free-throw line and picked up a pair before King added two points in the paint as West Virginia took a 15-point lead into the locker room at halftime with the score at 37-22.

Six of the first eight points in the third quarter came at the charity stripe, as Fioravanti went 2-for-2 for SJU while Muldrow and Davenport tallied four points for the Mountaineers, who took a 41-26 lead. King knocked the ball from the Hawks and took it down for the layup before Davenport hit the free-throw line for two more, giving WVU a 20-point lead at 47-27 midway through the quarter. She came through at the end of the period, hitting the jumper and the ensuing free-throw as WVU boasted a 55-40 advantage heading into the fourth.

Pardee opened the fourth with a 3-pointer for the Mountaineers before the Hawks countered with one of their own to cut WVU's lead to 18. King scored on the fast break off the dish from Muldrow, and Ray added a trey for a 63-45 Mountaineer lead. Pardee hit two at the foul line, and Harden scored on back-to-back possession, pushing the advantage to 22 at 71-49. As Ashley Jones drained a three, West Virginia held the Hawks scoreless across the final three minutes of play to claim the 79-51 win.

With the win, WVU advances to the third round of the 2018 Postseason WNIT. The Mountaineers will play host to James Madison on Thursday at 7 p.m. Season ticket holders have until 5 p.m. Monday to claim their seats.

Notes: Teana Muldrow moved into fourth place all-time in career scoring with 1,757 career points, surpassing Talisha Hargis … she also moved into sole possession of fourth place with 947 career rebounds, breaking a tie with Lanay Montgomery … Muldrow recorded two blocks to pass Lori Wilson and move into fifth place all-time with 137 … Chania Ray passed Christie Ammons and Mandy Ronay to move into seventh place with 444 career assists … Katrina Pardee tied Rebecca Burbridge for ninth all-time with 168 3-pointers.