The women's basketball team pulled off a huge upset against 2nd ranked Notre Dame by the score of 65-63. This was the biggest win all season for the Mountaineers and no one deserves more than they do.
After being down 33-30 at the half West Virginia stormed back with 35 points in the second half to beat the Fighting Irish. Top players for the Mountaineers include; junior center Ayana Dunning who had 11 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, the other junior center Asya Bussie had a huge game
dropping 22 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 3 blocks and sophomore guard Christal Caldwell had 10 points and 4 rebounds. Bussie shattered her season average by almost double, before this game she was averaging 11.7 points per game.
West Virginia's bench played exceptionally well with sophomore guard Taylor Palmer leading the bench in scoring with 9 points along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. The other big factor that lead to this win was that West Virginia out rebounded Notre Dame 35-31, while the difference is small the Mountaineers capitalized on their rebounds more than the Fighting Irish.
The defense played great as they only allowed two players in double figures for scoring. One of them was Skylar Diggins who dropped 32 points, but even that was not enough to rally Notre Dame to victory. The other scorer was Natalie Novosel who had 16 points, even with these two being Notre Dame’s top scorers it wasn’t enough to slow the West Virginia defense.
The defense only allowed them to shoot 40% from the field, 37% from three point range and 64% from the free throw line. While their shooting percentage from the field and three point range was higher, it didn’t faze the Mountaineers one bit. The Mountaineers’ defense also caused mayhem by making the Fighting Irish turn the ball over 17 times, including 5 turnovers from Diggins.
This win puts West Virginia's record at 18-6 overall and 8-3 in the Big East. The Mountainers are now 3rd in the Big East and they also extend their winning streak to four games. In fact, their last two games have come against ranked teams and their next two games are against as well. On Wednesday February 15th they take on 16th ranked Rutgers in Morgantown and then three days later they take on 22nd ranked Depaul in Morgantown as well.
If West Virginia can play like they did today than they should have no problem handling Rutgers and DePaul. If the Mountaineers can also beat these two ranked teams then there should be no reason why they shouldn’t be in the Top 25.
Player of the Game Asya Bussie 22 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 3 blocks
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