King helps No. 16 West Virginia women hang on versus Rebels

There’s other schools that have two and three losses that are ahead of us that don’t have losses to two top-10 schools.

Saturday was a much different story.

The Mountaineers shot 45 percent from the field and forced Virginia (7-1) into 14 turnovers to pull off the upset. A close loss at Georgia Tech early last January almost sent UVa’s and the ACC’s best defensive player, Malcolm Brogdon, into a hissy fit over the team’s poor defensive performance. “We’ve got to find a way to get better at that”.

Virginia scored 17 of the game’s first 23 points and seemed comfortable in command after Marial Shayok hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 17-6 lead with 12:07 remaining in the first half.

“You’ve got to do it in an efficient manner because of the clock”, said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. “We’ve had December 3, 2016 marked down for a long time”.

Martin reached double-figure scoring for an 11th consecutive game with 10 points. Teana Muldrow, averaging 14.1, scored eight. “We showed some of it today but just didn’t execute”.

It was clear right from beginning that this young and talented Cavaliers squad were uncomfortable with the Mountaineers torturous defense, as it was a constant struggle to get the ball up the court and get in position for their various offensive sets.

The Cavaliers hold the ACC’s best turnover margin rate (+6.86), committing just fewer than nine per game this season.

West Virginia is coming off a 49-19 blowout win over Iowa State. Baylor ranks fourth nationally in total offense (530.9 yards) while West Virginia is 10th (514.6). 3. “Defensively, they’ve been developing players for eight years, so last year they had some really good players who moved on to the National Football League or graduation, and they just plug in guys who have been redshirting”. London Perrantes, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer, finished with six points and connected on just one of his seven three-point attempts. Thompson was the only Virginia player to score in double figures.

The Cavaliers took a 25-24 lead into the halftime break after shooting 43 percent. Lamarr Kimble led the Hawks (3-4) with 15 points. But, for the first time the two teams’ defenses were the talk of the game. Shelton Gibson returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown, but that was called back by a holding penalty on the Mountaineers. He has had 16 players at West Virginia earn All-America honors, and 17 drafted by the NFL.

West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons announced Saturday night following the program’s win over Baylor 24-21 that the university has agreed to a five-year contract extension with head coach Dana Holgorsen, which will keep him with the Mountaineers through the 2021 season. Yet the Bears almost avoided closing the regular season on a six-game skid after grabbing the late onside kick. While the Mountaineers are checking off a year of firsts, the Tar Heels are familiar with the Final Four-this is their 27 College Cup in 35 appearances.

The ‘Hoos return to JPJ on Tuesday against East Carolina.