Saturday, March 3
Oklahoma City, Okla.
9:30 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Oklahoma State
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU to Face OSU in Big 12 Quarterfinals
March 02, 2018 03:35 PM | Women's Basketball
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Entering the tournament as the No. 6 seed, the West Virginia University women's basketball team opens play at the 2018 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship against No. 3 seed Oklahoma State on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. EST, at Chesapeake Energy Arena, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Ron Thulin and Brenda Van Lengen will have the call on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. Dan Zangrilli and Ayana Dunning will call the game for the Mountaineers Sports Network from IMG. Fans can listen to the game on Jack-FM 100.9 in the Morgantown/Fairmont area, as well as various affiliates across the state, the WVU Gameday app, TuneIn and WVUsports.com.
It will be the third meeting between the Mountaineers and the Cowgirls, who met last Saturday at the WVU Coliseum. Oklahoma State took both meetings, winning by a score of 79-73 in Stillwater and claiming a 79-69 victory in Morgantown. The all-time series is tied at 7-7, and the two have never met in the Big 12 Tournament.
West Virginia (20-10, 8-10), enters the Big 12 Championship as the No. 6 seed for the second consecutive season. WVU downed Oklahoma and Texas last season to reach the title game, before upsetting top-seeded Baylor to win the 2017 Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City.
The Mountaineers carry a 7-4 record in Big 12 tournament play into this year's event, which will be their sixth since joining the league prior to the 2012-13 season. They have reached the semifinals on three occasions and have appeared in the title game twice, in 2014 and 2017.
West Virginia is coming off an 80-54 loss at No. 3 Baylor to cap the 2017-18 regular season. Junior guard/forward Naomi Davenport recorded her sixth double-double of the season at Baylor with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Senior forward Teana Muldrow had 16 points in the loss, while senior guard Chania Ray had six assists.
"We need to find five people that will play hard for 40 minutes," WVU coach Mike Carey said. "(People that will) play consistently. Last year at this time, we were doing that. At that the end of the season, we weren't playing consistently. We had some players not playing hard. We know that, here, if you lose, you go home. Hopefully, we'll come out and play that way."
Muldrow, who was named to the All-Big 12 Tournament Team last year, earned 2018 All-Big 12 First Team honors, while Davenport was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team. Ray was named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Muldrow also was named one of five finalists for the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award, presented to the nation's best small forward.
Oklahoma State enters the tournament with a 20-9 overall mark and a 14-3 record in Big 12 play. The Cowgirls capped the season with back-to-back wins, downing the Mountaineers before claiming an 85-72 win over TCU to close the regular season. OSU averaged 79.5 points and 40.0 rebounds per game and shot 42.7 percent from the field, 33.2 percent from downtown and 73.8 percent at the foul line.
Loryn Goodwin, who was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, led the team with 21.1 points per game and 153 assists on the season. Kaylee Jensen led in rebounding with 10.8 boards per game and added 18.5 points per game while tallying a team-high 36 blocks. Braxtin Miller rounded out the starters in double figures with 12.0 points per game.
Should the Mountaineers advance, they would play in the Big 12 semifinals on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. EST.
Ron Thulin and Brenda Van Lengen will have the call on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. Dan Zangrilli and Ayana Dunning will call the game for the Mountaineers Sports Network from IMG. Fans can listen to the game on Jack-FM 100.9 in the Morgantown/Fairmont area, as well as various affiliates across the state, the WVU Gameday app, TuneIn and WVUsports.com.
It will be the third meeting between the Mountaineers and the Cowgirls, who met last Saturday at the WVU Coliseum. Oklahoma State took both meetings, winning by a score of 79-73 in Stillwater and claiming a 79-69 victory in Morgantown. The all-time series is tied at 7-7, and the two have never met in the Big 12 Tournament.
West Virginia (20-10, 8-10), enters the Big 12 Championship as the No. 6 seed for the second consecutive season. WVU downed Oklahoma and Texas last season to reach the title game, before upsetting top-seeded Baylor to win the 2017 Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City.
The Mountaineers carry a 7-4 record in Big 12 tournament play into this year's event, which will be their sixth since joining the league prior to the 2012-13 season. They have reached the semifinals on three occasions and have appeared in the title game twice, in 2014 and 2017.
West Virginia is coming off an 80-54 loss at No. 3 Baylor to cap the 2017-18 regular season. Junior guard/forward Naomi Davenport recorded her sixth double-double of the season at Baylor with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Senior forward Teana Muldrow had 16 points in the loss, while senior guard Chania Ray had six assists.
"We need to find five people that will play hard for 40 minutes," WVU coach Mike Carey said. "(People that will) play consistently. Last year at this time, we were doing that. At that the end of the season, we weren't playing consistently. We had some players not playing hard. We know that, here, if you lose, you go home. Hopefully, we'll come out and play that way."
Muldrow, who was named to the All-Big 12 Tournament Team last year, earned 2018 All-Big 12 First Team honors, while Davenport was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team. Ray was named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Muldrow also was named one of five finalists for the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award, presented to the nation's best small forward.
Oklahoma State enters the tournament with a 20-9 overall mark and a 14-3 record in Big 12 play. The Cowgirls capped the season with back-to-back wins, downing the Mountaineers before claiming an 85-72 win over TCU to close the regular season. OSU averaged 79.5 points and 40.0 rebounds per game and shot 42.7 percent from the field, 33.2 percent from downtown and 73.8 percent at the foul line.
Loryn Goodwin, who was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, led the team with 21.1 points per game and 153 assists on the season. Kaylee Jensen led in rebounding with 10.8 boards per game and added 18.5 points per game while tallying a team-high 36 blocks. Braxtin Miller rounded out the starters in double figures with 12.0 points per game.
Should the Mountaineers advance, they would play in the Big 12 semifinals on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. EST.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
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