Mountain Momma Monday: January 21

This past week was a tough one for the WVU women’s programs. The Mountaineers struggled to find victories in each of the various sports. These kind of weeks come along every so often, and fortunately, are few and far between for West Virginia. Here is our recap of the Mountaineers struggles this past week.

Basketball:

Jan 19, 2013; Waco, TX, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Christal Caldwell (1) drives the ball against Baylor Bears guard Kimetria Hayden (1) during the second half at the Ferrell Center. Baylor won 76-58. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

The basketball team had an up down week with a win at home versus TCU and a devastating loss at #1 Baylor. The Mountaineers fought hard to re-establish a winning record in Big XII play, but could not manage the colossal upset over the Baylor Bears.

The Mountaineers got a hard fought win over the Horned Frogs this past Tuesday, taking down TCU by a 58-50 margin. WVU built an early first half lead, only to see it slip away by the conclusion of the first half. TCU kept things close down the strecth, but could not match the Mountaineers scoring in the second half, as WVU pulled away behind Christal Caldwell’s 14 points and Taylor Palmer’s 13 points.

The dynamic duo of Palmer and Caldwell once again led the Mountaineers in scoring against the Bears. The two combined for 39 of the Mountaineers 58 points. As well as Palmer and Caldwell played, West Virginia as a whole struggled against the Bears defense. Brittney Griner dominated the middle, ripping down 15 rebounds and banking 26 points. WVU shot a pedestrian 32.8% from the field and an embarrassingly low 41.4% from the free throw line.

Baylor outclassed the Mountaineers in an easy 76-59 victory.

This week, Mike Carey will try to get his team back on track with a home match against Iowa State tomorrow night at 7 PM and a January 29 road game at Oklahoma State at 8 PM.

Gymnastics:

The tumblers started their season off with a 3rd place finish in the Utah quad meet this past Saturday. The #22 Mountaineers registerd 192.125 points falling behind #15 Utah (196.95) and #23 Oregon State (195.95) yet just ahead of Southern Utah (191.05).

West Virginia struggled in the balance beam and uneven bars events, two areas where the Mountaineers might have cost themselves in this meet. WVU did relatively well across the various competitions, but failed to register any top threee finishers.

The results of the Utah meet dropped the Mountaineers record to 2-2. WVU will have an opportunity to advance their record to 3-2 with a meet against North Carolina State Friday January 25. The meet will take place in Raleigh, NC at 7 PM.

Swimming:

WVU’s swim team took to the WVU Natatorium pool this past Friday to take on the TCU Horned Frogs. The Mountaineers fell short in their first Big XII competition, 160-140.

Senior swimmer Rachael Burnett recorded victories in three events: the 200-m free, 500-m free, and 1,000-m free. The Mountaineers also took home a victory in the 200-m medley relay behind the efforts of Courtney Miller, Jennelle Zee, Julie Ogden, and Jaimee Gilmore.

In the diving events, Haily Vandepoel came away with victories in the 1-m board and the 3-m board. Her score in the 3-m board set a school record with 316.20. Vandepoel’s performance against TCU earned her WVU athlete of the week.

Even with strong showings from Vandepoel and Burnettt, WVU was still unable to come away with an overall win. Had the Mountaineers had stronger efforts in the other competitions of the swim meet, West Virginia might have been able to come away with a Big XII victory.

It was a tough loss for the Mountaineers at home, but the swim team will look to rebound this Saturday January 26 with a home meet with Ohio. The meet is scheduled to commence at noon.

Track:

WVU took away a team victory in their own meet, the WVU Invitational, this past Saturday. The meet featured lesser competition such as Waynesburg, Pitt-Johnstown, and Alderson-Broaddus. The WVU Invitational served to give the track team an easier warm-up to start the spring season off on the right foot. The Mountaineers took away 8 first place finishes in the competition.

With their tune-up completed, the Mountaineers will ratchet up the level of competition this weekend in the PSU National Invitational. The meet will take place January 25-26 in State College, PA.