Mountaineers Take Season Opener

By Julie Brown for WVUsports.com
November 11, 2011 09:35 PM

Sophomore guard Taylor Palmer scored a career high 33 points to lead the Mountaineers to a 69-37 win over Youngstown State in the team's season opener.

All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks Photo

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Sophomore guard Taylor Palmer scored a career high 33 points to lead the West Virginia women’s basketball team to a 69-37 season-opening win over visiting Youngstown State on Friday evening at the Coliseum.

Palmer scored over half of her 33 points from beyond the arc, shooting a career high 8-of-16 from the 3-point line to break the sophomore single- game record of seven set by Christie Lambert against Syracuse in 1997. Meg Bulger was the last Mountaineer player to sink eight treys at the Coliseum, having done so against Cleveland State in 2005.

“I thought in the second half, Taylor Palmer started hitting some threes,” said coach Mike Carey. “I told Taylor to just keep shooting. The shots were wide open.”

Palmer was followed in scoring by sophomore guard Christal Caldwell, who posted her own double-digit performance with 15 points while collecting seven rebounds in her first game as a Mountaineer. Junior center Asya Bussie rounded out the top three scorers for West Virginia, adding eight points and pulling down eight boards.

“We started moving the best in the second half when we went a little smaller with Crystal Leary inside and we started heating up a little bit with our traps and getting up the lanes a little bit more,” Carey added. “I thought even Christal Caldwell started taking it off the dribble and taking some shots.”

West Virginia used its annually strong defense to hold Youngstown State to just 19.6 percent (11-of-56) shooting and 17.9 percent (5-of-28) shooting from beyond the arc.

In contrast, the Mountaineers shot 41.8 percent (28-of-67) from the field and 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from the 3-point line.

“We can’t worry about missing two or three, we have to score,” Carey said. “In the second half when we went small, we started moving the ball a little bit better and quit thinking about shooting and were able to take some shots.”

Junior center Ayana Dunning led the team’s dominant defensive efforts by pulling down 15 boards and blocking five shots in just 22 minutes of play. Overall, West Virginia recorded 52 rebounds while Youngstown State recorded 37.

Additionally, the Mountaineers forced 16 turnovers, from which they were able to capitalize and post 13 points.

The Penguins were led in scoring by sophomore forward Brandi Brown, who put up 12 points and pulled down eight boards.

The Mountaineers return to action at the Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 18, when they play host to St. Bonaventure in a 7 p.m. tip. Live audio and stats will be provided by MSNsportsNET.com.

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