Senior Liz Repella’s season-high 26 points paved the way to a 79-73 upset over No. 8-seed Houston in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, advancing the ninth-seeded West Virginia women’s basketball team, Sunday.
The Mountaineers (24-9) took control for the final time at the 7:06 mark in the first half, allowing the Cougars (26-6) to come within three points in the final 3:26. WVU head coach Mike Carey called a play to free Repella and WVU capitalized as she banked in a 3-point shot to pull back out to six. Houston came within four points, twice, in the final three minutes, but the Mountaineers held on for the win.
Repella’s 26-point performance marks only the eighth time in school history a WVU women’s basketball player has posted a 20-point game in NCAA postseason play. Previously, the most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game was 27, posted by Rosemary Kosiorek in 1992.
With this performance, she also passed Olayinka Sanni (2005-08) for seventh place on West Virginia’s all-time scoring list, tallying 1,612 career points.
Behind Repella, fellow co-captain Madina Ali tallied her 11th career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Ali became only the fourth WVU women’s basketball player to post a double-double in tournament play. Other Mountaineers to have done so include Donna Abbott, Chakhia Cole and Liz Repella.
Sophomore Asya Bussie rounded out the top-three scorers for the Mountaineers as she chipped in 13, 11 of which came in the first half. At center, Bussed helped WVU dominate the paint, outscoring Houston, 40-28, under the basket.
The Mountaineers pulled down a school record 52 rebounds in NCAA Tournament competition as Ali broke the school record for individual rebounds in a tournament game. WVU out-rebounded Houston, 52-36.
Houston had three players in double figures, led by Brittney Scott with 24 points. Lesslee Mason followed with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Courtney Taylor added in 17 points.
The Mountaineers will face the Baylor-Prairie View A&M winner in a Tuesday night Second Round game with tip set for 9:30 p.m. EST.
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