The Mountaineers ended their season 5th in the Big East and ended up losing to Notre Dame in the second round of the Big East Tournament. Now they have received the 8th seed in the tournament and will face the 9th seeded Texas Longhorns.
West Virginia needs Asya Bussie
to dominate on offense and knock down shots. Bussie is averaging 12.8 points per game and she will need to have a huge game in order for the Mountaineers to get an early lead. Another player that has to play well is Christal Caldwell, who is averaging 11.1 ppg. Caldwell has struggled recently and she will need to pick herself up and drop some big numbers. Both these players will have to lead to charge against the Longhorns.
Taylor Palmer will also have to contribute heavily and help out Bussie and Caldwell in this game. Even though she comes off the bench, Palmer has played good all season and is averaging 10.7 ppg. She is also very good from beyond the arc, shooting around 30% and they will need her to hit those shots when the time comes. Another great shooter from three point range is Linda Stepney, she is shooting 50%, but she has only taken 24 shots from the three point line. The Mountaineers will need her to take a lot more shots and make them if they want to keep the Longhorns from keeping it close.
One factor that could affect West Virginia negatively is turnovers. As a team they have turned the ball over 574 times and they will have to be more careful with the ball. The players will have to be smarter with their passes and make sure they keep the ball secure, otherwise Texas will definitely take advantage of this weakness and exploit it the best they can.
A positive factor for the Mountaineers is their rebounding skills. They have out rebounded opponents 852-686 and they need to crash the boards whenever a shot is put up. Ayana Dunning leads the Mountaineers in the rebound department. Dunning grabs 8.4 rebounds per game and West Virginia needs her to use height and size to box out and grab the ball. In the season she hauled in 189 defensive rebounds and 80 offensive rebounds, so Dunning will have to be a factor on both offense and defense when it comes to rebounding.
Players the Mountaineers have to play tough defense against are Chassidy Fussell and Ashleigh Fontenette. Fussell leads Texas in scoring with16.5 ppg and also in rebounding with 4.5 rpg. Fontenette is averaging 11.9 ppg and she shoots around 37.4% from three point range, she is second behind Fussell who shoots 37.7% from beyond the arc. Fussell is also very dangerous from the free throw line, shooting 90.5%. The Mountaineers cannot afford to foul her and make her shot foul shots.
This will be a tough game for West Virginia and they will need all their players to step up and play hard for the full 40 minutes. If the Mountaineers can outrebound and watch their turnovers then they should come away with the win. Tipoff for this game is at 11:10 am on can been seen on ESPN2 and ESPN3.
Prediction: WVU-65 Texas-56
Player of the Game: Asya Bussie 15 point, 7 rebounds, 5 assists
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