HARTFORD – Asya Bussie and Liz Repella combined for 31 points and 12 rebounds, as the 10th seeded West Virginia women’s basketball team defeated the 15th seeded Cincinnati, 66-41, in the first round of the BIG EAST Championships, Friday.
The Mountaineers (23-8) jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening minutes and never let up, allowing the Bearcats (9-20) to come as close as three points (20-17) with 9:41 in the first half. WVU took a 37-23 halftime lead into the locker room and managed to stretch its double-digit lead to as many as 27 points.
Repella led all players in scoring with 16 points, while Bussie chipped in 15. Seniors Korinne Campbell and Madina Ali each had nine points and Ali co-led with Repella in rebounding with seven boards each. WVU shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field.
Bjonee Reaves guided Cincinnati’s scoring with 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting. The Bearcats were held to 32.6 percent from the field. Jeanise Randolph helped the Bearcats to a 33-30 rebounding advantage as she pulled down six rebounds.
“I thought we came in and did what we had to do,” West Virginia head coach Mike Carey said. “We got the lead and we were defending pretty well. We just weren’t rebounding very well. When we started rebounding better, we were able to stretch the lead.”
Cincinnati was forced into 22 turnovers as West Virginia grabbed 10 team steals, and capitalized with 27 points off turnovers. Repella led the stealing efforts with four, while Sarah Miles got the ball in the right hands with 10 assists and only two turnovers.
The Mountaineers advance to the second round of the BIG EAST Championships as they take on the No. 7 seed St. John’s, Saturday, March 5 at 6 p.m. in the XL Center.
The last time WVU met St. John’s was in the final regular-season game of the season on Feb. 28, 2011. WVU defeated the Red Storm 69-49 with its five seniors combining for 62 points.
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