Another Shocker

Another Shocker

By Christopher Marshall for MSNsportsNET.com March 5, 2006 BOX SCORE HARTFORD, Conn.- It is often said that anything can happen at tournament time. That familiar theme was played out for the second consecutive day on Sunday as the No. 12 seed West Virginia Mountaineers upset the No. 4 seed St. John’s Red Storm to advance to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament in Hartford, Conn. West Virginia players run from the floor after they upset St. John's 55-49 in a quarterfinal round game in the 2006 Big East Women's Basketball Championship in Hartford, Conn., Sunday, March 5, 2006. West Virginia came into the tournament seeded 12th, while St. John's was seeded number four. From second from left, are: Ashley Powell, Sarah Bucar, Britney Davis-White and Olayinka Sanni. AP photo/Bob Child “We felt even after our eight-game losing streak that we were still a good team, we just couldn’t finish games. I’m just happy right now that we’re starting to finish some games,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. The Red Storm had a 23-20 halftime advantage and claimed their largest lead of the game at 32-22 following a quick 9-2 run to start the second half. The St. John’s lead was seven, 40-33, following a pair of Angela Clark free throws with 9:26 left to play when the Mountaineers erupted for a 9-1 run, grabbing their first lead of the second half at 42-41 on a Yelena Leuchanka jumper with 6:11 remaining in the game. A lay up by Kia Wright pushed the Red Storm lead back out to three at 47-44 with 4:33 remaining and it was apparent that every possession was critical and that this game was going to go right down to the wire. On the ensuing possession, the Mountaineers, in dire need of a basket, found themselves in a shot clock situation. With the clock winding, Sarah Bucar drove to the foul line, and finding no open teammates, threw up a desperation jumper that fell in to pull the Mountaineers within one, 47-46, with 3:58 left to go in the game. A pair of Chakia Cole free throws with 3:13 remaining gave the Mountaineers a one point lead, but the Red Storm immediately responded with a Wright jumper to gain a 49-48 advantage with 2:58 left. From there, the Mountaineer’s defense and foul line marksmanship took over as the Red Storm was held scoreless over the last 2:58 of the game, and the Mountaineers converted 7 of 8 free throws in the last 3:13 to seal the victory. Cole led West Virginia with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She was a clutch 7 of 7 from the foul line, including 6 of 6 over the final three minutes to seal the game. LaQuita Owens contributed 13 points, including three big 3-pointers to rally the Mountaineers. Olayinka Sanni added 10. Following the game, Cole explained how she came alive offensively in the second half. “In the first half that I was kind of forcing the game instead of letting the game come to me. In the second half I saw how hard my teammates were playing and how much we all wanted this game. Something in me just clicked and I had to get it done somehow. We all came together and that was a great feeling,” Cole said. Wright had 14 points to lead St. John’s (21-8) while Clark chipped in 12. For the game, West Virginia (14-15) shot a respectable 45 percent from the floor (20 of 44) and a clutch 80 percent from the foul line (12 of 15). St. John’s was held to a chilly 30 percent from the floor (16 of 52), including a frigid 28 percent (9 of 32) in the second half. The Mountaineer victory marks the first time a 12 seed has ever advanced to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. West Virginia will now move on to face Rutgers Monday night at 6 p.m. The game can be seen live on ESPNU. “We weren’t supposed to get this far, so we might as well go ahead and win the whole thing,” Carey said.