Mountaineers Down Marquette
The win was crucial for the Mountaineers (15-6, 5-3 BIG EAST), who are in the midst of the toughest part of their schedule this season with four of the next five games coming against ranked opponents. Knowing this, West Virginia came out and gained momentum quickly, building to a 14-6 lead just before the midway point of the first half. The Mountaineers went into the locker room with a 27-18 lead over the Golden Eagles (12-9, 3-5 BIG EAST), and entered the second half with just as much intensity, going on a 6-0 scoring run to draw out the lead to 33-18 with 16:16 left in regulation. They wouldn’t look back after that point. West Virginia was led in scoring by redshirt sophomore Christal Caldwell, who scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the win. She’s now extended her streak of games with double-figure scoring numbers to nine. “Christal Caldwell has been playing well,” said Carey. “Especially in the first half, she hit the offensive boards well. We need her to continue to do that. The key is that we need either Brooke Hampton or Taylor Palmer or somebody else to give us some scoring from the perimeter. That opens up our post a little bit more.” Caldwell was followed by sophomore Taylor Palmer, who saw her second double-figure scoring game of the week with ten points against the Golden Eagles (12-9, 3-5 BIG EAST). Sophomore Jess Harlee rounded out the top three scorers, with seven points and five rebounds on the night. Overall, West Virginia converted 39.6 percent (19-of-48) from the field, 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from beyond the arc and 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from the charity line. But it wasn’t just an offensive effort that propelled West Virginia to the win. The Mountaineers played strong defense, amassing 13 steals and 10 blocks against Marquette. Of those 10 blocks, junior Asya Bussie earned a new career-high with seven. Bussie’s seven blocked shots mark the most blocks from any player under coach Carey, and are the most blocked shots from any West Virginia player since 1986, when Georgeann Wells had eight on three occasions against Massachusetts, Saint Joseph’s and Rutgers. Additionally, the Mountaineers held Marquette to just 18.2 percent (10-of-55) from the field, marking the first time in program history that the Mountaineers have held a BIG EAST opponent to just 10 field goals. Marquette also went without a single 3-point field goal, as they went 0-for-10 from beyond the arc. The last time West Virginia held a BIG EAST opponent without a 3-point field goal was against Syracuse at the Coliseum in 2004, when the Orange went 0-for-12. “West Virginia plays incredible defense and denial,” said Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell. “They took us out of our rhythm offensively as you can see by our shooting percentage and our amount of turnovers. We talked about this game and the two things that we talked about was that we had to address our turnovers and rebounding and we did a good job rebounding but when you look at our 19 offensive rebounds and you only have 20 total points, it didn’t hurt them at all to rebound like that.” West Virginia did not allow any Marquette player to score in double figures, as the Golden Eagles were led in scoring by sophomore Katherine Plouffe who posted nine points, while freshman Chelsie Butler and junior Sarina Simmons each scored eight points. “We have South Florida coming up,” Carey ended. “South Florida lost to Connecticut and they were only down two at halftime. They have a bunch of guards, 3-point shooters and athletes. We will have our hands full with South Florida, but we need to get one or two more on the road. We have got to be prepared.” The Mountaineers will travel to Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 1 to take on USF in a 7 p.m. tip. Live audio and stats will be provided by MSNsportsNET.com. |
 Harrison Musgrave strikes out 14 in TCU victory |
 Around the Horn with Randy Mazey |
 TCU Postgame: Randy Mazey |
 TCU Postgame: Randy Mazey |
 Around the Horn With Randy Mazey |
 Randy Mazey Teleconference |
