February 24, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Olayinka Sanni led all scorers with 22 points, Chakhia Cole added 18 and Sparkle Davis pitched in 11 to lead West Virginia to a 61-49 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at the WVU Coliseum.
Sanni powered WVU to 39-29 halftime lead, scoring 16 of her points in the first period. The Chicago Heights, Ill. native scored at will during the first half, fending off double teams and finishing a variety of shots in the post.
Sanni crossed the 1,000 point plateau for her Mountaineer career on Saturday afternoon, becoming the 24th player to do so in school history.
“It’s pretty good for a post player to score 1,000 points in under three years,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. “She is doing a really good job finishing and on the boards for us. I’m really proud of her. She has developed into one of the best centers in the conference.”
Trailing 15-14 with 11:11 to play in the first half, WVU went on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes, capped by a pair of Cole free throws to give the Mountaineers a 22-15 advantage.
Cincinnati cut the deficit to three at 31-28 on a Karen Twehues 3 with 2:45 left but the Mountaineers quickly responded, mounting another 8-0 run over the next two minutes. A Davis 3 with 45 seconds left in the period gave the Gold and Blue a comfortable 39-28 advantage.
West Virginia (19-9, 10-5) shot 51. 7 percent in the first half, connecting on 15 of 29 shots while holding the Bearcats to just 38 percent. The Mountaineers dominated inside, outscoring the Bearcats 22-6 in the paint in the first half.
West Virginia turned their defense up a notch in the second half, holding Cincinnati to just six field goals in the second period and just 23 percent shooting. The Bearcats never seriously threatened the Mountaineers in the second half, getting no closer than nine points.
Cincinnati (14-13, 5-10) out rebounded WVU 41-31 but that advantage was offset due to 18 Bearcat turnovers which West Virginia turned into 17 points at the other end.
Cincinnati was led by Twehues’ 17 points. She was the only Bearcat in double-figures.
West Virginia finishes the season 13-1 at home, including 7-1 in conference games. The 13-1 home record at the Coliseum is the second best in school history behind the 1992 team that went 14-0 at home.
At 10-5 in the conference, the Mountaineers are still very much alive for a first round bye in the Big East Tournament. The top four teams receive byes and with the win today, WVU moves into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big East standings with Louisville and Notre Dame. The Irish hold the tiebreaker over WVU, having beaten the Mountaineers in South Bend earlier this season. West Virginia would need to beat Louisville Monday night and have DePaul beat Notre Dame to finish in solo fourth. The Mountaineers can finish no worse than sixth in the league.
A crowd of 2,119 saw seniors Tameka Kelly and Britney Davis-White play in their final home game at the Coliseum.
“It was a great crowd today. It was great to have this type of crowd here for our last home game of the year,” Carey said. “It was an exciting atmosphere and as tired as we looked at times, I think the crowd really helped us.”
WVU now has a quick two-day turnaround before playing its final game of the regular season at Louisville on Monday, Feb. 26.
“It’s a crazy turnaround for us. We leave here at 8:30 tomorrow morning, fly to Louisville and then play them the next day,” Carey said. “They are a very good basketball team and it’s a big game for both of us so hopefully we come out focused and ready to play.”February 22, 2007
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| LaQuita Owens | |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Mike Carey knew it was time to bring out his motivational speaking skills at halftime of West Virginia’s critical road game at Pittsburgh Tuesday night. West Virginia had seen a big first half lead whittled down to just four at halftime, and a second-half collapse would have been devastating to a team desperately fighting for its NCAA tournament life.
Drawing most of his ire was junior guard LaQuita Owens, West Virginia’s sometimes super-shooting guard who had put up a giant goose egg in the first half against the Panthers.
“I think I made her mad at halftime because she didn't have any points,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. “I think she wanted to prove me wrong.”
Owens came out and hit her first five 3-point shots and finished the second half with 19 points to give the Mountaineers one of their better road victories under Carey. Pitt has already won 20 games this year and had previously spent eight weeks in the national rankings.
The road has been a tough place for West Virginia the past few seasons. The win on Tuesday was the Mountaineers’ third this year; last season West Virginia was just 4-8 in road games.
WVU would already be punching its NCAA tournament ticket had it taken care of business away from the Coliseum earlier this year. On Nov. 13 WVU couldn’t hold on to a late lead against Virginia Tech on a neutral court, it had a three-point loss to No. 16 Texas A&M also on a neutral site, endured a double-overtime loss at Villanova in which the Mountaineers couldn’t make their free throws down the stretch, and had a six-point loss at No. 21 Rutgers when WVU went scoreless for a long stretch in the second half.
“Some of those games we shouldn’t have lost,” Owens said. “(Carey) always tells us to make sure we take care of home no matter what.
“The Rutgers game the last eight minutes we just lost our focus,” Owens said. “We learned from that. You can’t have a moment when you stop concentrating and stop executing.”
Owens is perhaps the key piece to the puzzle for West Virginia heading into the postseason. With teams double-teaming junior center Yinka Sanni in the post, the outside is going to be open for Owens, Sparkle Davis and Britney Davis-White to fire away.
Owens came through at Pitt.
“I went in at halftime and told myself to stay focused for the team because I can’t get frustrated and mad because I wasn’t performing well,” she said. “I had to keep telling myself to play hard and do whatever I have to do to try and win this game because it was a big one.”
The win has improved West Virginia’s RPI to 48th, according to RealtimeRPI.com. The Mountaineers have a pair of regular season games remaining against No. 108 Cincinnati on Saturday and then at No. 29 Louisville on Feb. 26.
West Virginia has won 10 of its last 12 games and has assured itself of a winning Big East record for just the second time under Carey. The last time that happened in 2004 West Virginia made the NCAA tournament.
“I have learned that you can’t take any team in the Big East for granted. It could be an upset night for anyone at any given moment,” Owens said.
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| Junior Olayinka Sanni leads West Virginia with averages of 13.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks | |
Briefly:
The No. 3-rated Huskies have a 14-0 Big East record and a 25-2 overall mark. Seton Hall pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the Big East this year on Tuesday night, knocking off No. 19 Marquette, 63-58 to boost its overall record to 17-9. The Pirates are 8-6 in Big East play, tied with Pitt and South Florida for seventh place. The top four teams receive a first-round bye in the Big East tournament. WVU gets a crack at the conference’s top scorer in Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry next Monday night. The sophomore is averaging 22.1 points per game. “It’s been my experience that if you play defense and rebound you can stay in the game,” he said. “A lot of times when you go into tournament play in other places you’re not always going to shoot well. I try to establish a post presence because I think it’s a lot easier to shoot inside than it is out at the 3 on a foreign court.” Cincinnati beat Villanova 60-50 at home on Tuesday night and it brings an overall 14-12 record into Morgantown. Prior to Saturday’s game, West Virginia will recognize seniors Britney Davis-White and Tameka Kelly in a brief pre-game ceremony. Tip off is slated for 2 pm. |
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