Mountain Momma Monday: March 25
By Ken Durbin
Mar 24, 2013; Newark, DE, USA;Delaware Blue Hens guard Trumae Lucas (21) is defended by West Virginia Mountaineers guard Christal Caldwell (1) during the first round of the 2013 NCAA womens basketball tournament at Bob Carpenter Center. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Basketball:
As we discussed in our post yesterday, the ladies’ hoops team fell to Delaware on their home court in Newark during the first round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
While the Mountaineers could not maintain their halftime lead, the game was an excellent learning experience for Mike Carey’s team. The appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the 4th straight season and the 6th time in the last seven seasons will be a useful recruiting tool for the Mountaineers.
With the loss in the NCAA Tournament, the 2012-13 Basketball concludes with a 17-14 record.
Gymnastics:
It was an incredibly busy week for the Mountaineers as they took to the floor in their first ever Big XII Championship. The #25 Mountaineers tallied a team score of 194.675 in the meet, good enough for third place at the meet.
West Virginia took second place in both the vault (49.1) and beam (48.975) competitions. WVU also took third place in the floor (48.725) and bars (47.875).
The meet was highlighted by a pair of exceptional individual performances. Senior Kaylyn Millick placed second (39.2) and junior Hope Sloanhoffer placed fourth (39.075) in the competition.
As of today, four Mountaineer gymnasts are ranked nationally. Senior Kaylyn Millick ranks #27 in the all-around while junior Hope Sloanhoffer ranks #42 in the all-around. Freshman Jaida Lawrence is #43 in the vault while senior Alaska Richardson ranks #48 on the floor.
Also, today, the field for the NCAA Championships was announced. The Mountaineers earned a #5 seed in the Morgantown, WV Regional (convenient, huh?). The other schools in the Morgantown Region are #1 Michigan, #2 Nebraska, #3Illinois, #4 Kentucky, and #6 North Carolina.
The Mountaineers will compete in the NCAA Championships next Saturday, April 6 at the WVU Coliseum.
Swimming:
Two Mountaineer swimmers competed in the NCAA Swimming Championships this past weekend: seniors Rachael Burnett and Mandie Nugent. The pair combined for pretty impressive finishes.
Burnett finished 16th in the 500-m free, 26th in the 200-m free,and 25th in the 1650-m free. Burnett’s performance earned her an honorable mention All-American recognition for the 5th time in her collegiate career.
Nugent finished 60th in the 500-m free, 28th in the 100-m free, and 7th in the 200-m fly. Nugent’s swim in the 200-m fly earned her an All-America nod.
The two Mountaineer swimmers obtained a 31st place team finish for West Virginia.
This concludes the 2012-13 season for the swimming and diving teams.
Tennis:
Another weekend, another pair of crushing defeats for the tennis team. After showing signs of life only two weeks ago with three victories in a row, the Mountaineers have resumed their losing ways with a four match drought, including twin losses to Texas Tech and Texas this past weekend.
Saturday, at #20 Texas Tech, the Mountaineers fell 6-1. The Mountaineers lone team point came from senior Audrey Wooland in the #1 singles match 6-4, 6-3.
Outside of Wooland’s win, the Mountaineers were handled by the Red Raiders.
WVU made a trip across the Lone Star State to take on #22 Texas. The Mountaineers, fresh on the heels of a bad showing in Lubbock, put on an even worse performance in Austin. The Longhorns swept the Mountaineers 7-0 in the match.
Coach Tina Samara blamed the outdoor competition sites over the weekend for the poor performance by the Mountaineers who have played exclusively indoors to this point.
Yes wind can effect a tennis ball, but 10-15 mph winds are fairly common in the game of tennis and not much of a scapegoat.
WVU will try to right the ship in two weeks, when they resume action against Oklahoma State on April 5 and Oklahoma on April 7.
Track:
The Mountaineers track team competed in the California (PA) Early Bird Meet this past weekend, notching 7 first place finishes at the meet.
Senior Heather Adams took first place finishes in the hammer throw and discus events. The Mountaineers relay team of Shakiyla Cosby, Arielle Gaither, Ashanti Bess, and Christa D’Egidio took home first place in the 4×400 meter relay.
WVU also registered first place finishes in the pole vault (Katlyn Shelar), 800-m hurdles (Christa D’Egidio), and 400-m hurdles (Arielle Gaither).
The strong showing by the Mountaineers in this meet is a good warm-up for the Stanford Invitational this coming weekend in Palo Alto, CA.
Volleyball:
The WVU volleyball team embarked on a Spring Break Training Tour this past weekend, with matches against Wingate, Duke, Wake Forest, and UNC-Greensboro. Following losses to Wingate, the Mountaineers would split their matches with the other three opponents.
No official results are available as the matches were fairly relaxed in format with liberal substitutions in play.