WVU Women’s Basketball: Mountaineers Start Season With 13 Straight Wins
By Phil Poling
The West Virginia Women’s Basketball team started the 2016-17 season hot, ripping off 13 straight wins, including their Big 12 Conference opener against TCU.
Head coach Mike Carey’s done an excellent job this year with the Lady Mountaineers. He’s been able to use the same starting five for every game; Tynice Martin, Teana Muldrow, Lanay Montgomery, Chania Ray, and Katrina Pardee. Four other players – Kristina King, Alexis Brewer, Anja Martin, and Desiree Rhodes – have made appearances in every game as well.
Tynice Martin is the Mountaineers leading scorer, averaging 18.5 points per game. She’s second on the team in free throw percentage and fifth in 3-point percentage. She’s also racked up 30 assists and 22 steals.
Muldrow is second on the team in scoring with 13.9 points per game and second on the team with 35 assists. She’s also second on the team in blocks with 14, and has cleaned 98 rebounds off the glass.
As a team, the Mountaineers are averaging 82 points per game, with an average margin of victory of 33.7 points. They outrebound their opponents by 13 on average, and haul in roughly 47 rebounds per game.
One thing about this Mountaineer team is they start games quick. Some teams have a hard time getting into a rhythm early, but not Carey’s group. They’ve scored 270 points in the first quarter while only giving up 136 to opponents, a two to one ratio. They’ve shown they can win close games too, though.
Against Auburn in the 1st annual Savannah Invitational, they only mustered 56 points. Luckily, their defense was good enough to hold the Tigers to 52 points, securing the victory. In the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, the ‘Eers were matched up with Ole Miss. They’d win this game in similar fashion, with a score of 66-61.
Jan. 3 will be their biggest test of the season when #3 Baylor travels to Morgantown. Don’t expect the Mountaineers to go quietly, though; this is a hungry, talented group of players who deserve respect.