BabHorn
10,000+ Posts
Both West Virginia and Texas are coming off losses in their conference tournaments. WVU is 23-9 while Texas comes in at 18-13. This will be the first meeting between the two schools. With the game taking place at Norfolk, VA., WVU could have a slight home advantage as their hometown is only 277 miles from the game site. Austin is 1524 miles from Norfolk. The winner of this game will face the winner of the Stanford-Hampton game. WVU will be playing in the Big 12 next season so this game will serve as a kind of getting to know each other. WVU had won five games in row before losing to Norte Dame while Texas had three straight wins before suffering a defeat by Texas Tech. Both teams lost in their conference tournaments. The Texas seniors will be playing in their fourth NCAA and will be looking for their first win, losing 68-65 to Marquette last season.
The West Virginia Mountaineers are led in scoring by three players in double figures: Asya Bussie (#20, 6-4 Jr. C; 12.2 ppg), Christal Caldwell (#1, 5-9 RS Soph. G; 11.1 ppg) and Taylor Palmer (#2, 5-9 Soph. G; 10.7 ppg). Ayana Dunning (#33, 6-3 RS Jr. C) adds 8.2 ppg. Their two top posts, Bussie and Dunning, top WVU in FG%. Bussie is at 53.6% (133-248) while Dunning is at 49.5% (98-198). Caldwell (134-338, 39.6%) and Palmer (118-364, 32.4%) are the only Mountaineers that have taken over 300 shots in the season. Only Natalie Burton (#35, 6-5 Sr. C; 15-29, 51.7%), Averee Fields (#5, 6-0 Fr. F; 22-48, 45.8%) and Crystal Leary (#32, 6-2 Fr. F; 12-30, 40.0%) along with Bussie and Dunning making at least 40% of their FGs. If she were making another 0.8 shots per game, Bussie would rank 14th nationally in FG%. Palmer (69-225, 30.7%) and Brooke Hampton (#4, 5-9 Fr. G; 32-101, 31.7%) are the main 3pt threats for the Mountaineers. Caldwell (17-53, 32.1%) and Linda Stepney (#22, 5-7 Fr. G; 12-24, 50.0%) are others the Horns will need to defend BTA. Bussie (123-209, 58.9%) and Caldwell (70-105, 66.7%) are the only ones that have attempted at least 100 FTs. Hampton, at 82.7% (43-52) is their top FT shooter and the player the Horns do not want to see on the FT line. Others hitting at least 70% from the FT line: Dunning (62-80, 77.5%), Jessica Harlee (#14, 6-1 Soph. F; 50-71, 70.4%), Stepney (43-60, 71.7%) and Leary (18-25, 72.0%).
Dunning (8.4 rpg) is their top rebounder. Bussie (6.7 rpg), Caldwell (5.8 rpg) and Harlee (5.3 rpg) are all over 5 rpg. No one else snatches more than 3 rpg. Hampton tops the team with 135 assists (4.4 apg) while primarily coming off the bench—six starts in 31 games. She does average 25.6 mpg, fifth highest on the team. Stepney (85) and Harlee (62) rank second and third in assists. No one else has more than 33 assists. Bussie has 70 blocks with Dunning at 23 and Harlee with 17 blocks. Harlee leads with 65 steals while Bussie has 40 and Dunning 38. Five others have between 23 and 29 steals.
Seven players have played in at least 31 of the 32 games WVU has played. All are averaging at least at least 20 minutes a game with Bussie’s 30.4 mpg tops. She is the only one over 30 mpg. Akilah Bethel (#3, 6-0 Fr. G) averages 11 mpg in 23 games while Leary averages 11.7 mpg in 15 games. Fields has played in 20 games averaging 9.6 mpg while Burton has played in 21 games, started in one and averages 6.2 mpg. WVU has a core rotation of seven players with four others that have played at times. The starting lineup in the last game consisted of Harlee, Dunning, Bussie, Caldwell and Stepney.
Horns are led by three guards with double figure scoring: Chassidy at 16.5 ppg and Ashleigh and Yvonne each averaging 11.9 ppg. Off the bench, Chelsea adds 7.8 ppg. Cokie is the top scoring post at 6.2 ppg. Chassidy, Ashleigh, Yvonne & Chelsea have taken 429 of 461 3s attempted by Texas. That’s 93% of all 3s taken by those four. They have made 97% of the treys hit by Texas. All four are hitting at least 30% from BTA with Chassidy’s 37.7% and Ashleigh’s 37.4% tops. Chassidy is the main 3pt threat for the Horns as she has taken and made almost twice as many 3s as Ashleigh, who is second in both categories. Chassidy is third nationally with her FT average of 90.5% on 86-95.Three others are all hitting over 70% from the FT line: Ashleigh (75-106, 70.8%), Yvonne (63-90, 70.0%) and Chelsea (46-65, 73.8%).Ashley is the top rebounder at 6.6 rpg. Five others are averaging between 4.3 and 4.9 rpg, including Chassidy (4.5) and Ashleigh (4.3). Yvonne (167), Ashleigh (112) and Chassidy (51) rank one-two-three in assists. Ashley, with 36, is the top post in assists and the fourth Horn with more than 16 assists in the season. Yvonne ranks 19th nationally with her assist average of 5.6 apg. Ashley has 90 blocks this season, tops in the team and 11th nationally with an average of 2.9 bpg. Yvonne tops the team with 81 steals. Ashleigh adds 51 and Chassidy 43. Ashley’s 33 steals are fourth on the team and tops the posts.
Horns have gone through the season with primarily eight players who average at least 16.8 mpg. Chassidy, Ashleigh and Yvonne all average over 30 mpg due to a shortage of guards. Four of the eight have been out most if not all season with injuries. Chelsea has missed some games late in the season due to an ankle injury. Those eight have all started at least two games. Ronisha has come on in the last few games to provide scoring and rebounding off the bench. The post rotation includes starters Ashley and Cokie with Nneka and Anne Marie as the top reserves. Chassidy, Ashleigh, and Yvonne have started in the backcourt almost all the games with the exception of two in which Chelsea stepped into the starting lineup when one of the three was not able to start. Right now, the rotation is nine players, split evenly with four in the front court and four in the backcourt with Ronisha able to play either.
Projected starting lineups are based on the last game. Both teams have made frequent changes to their starting lineups.
[pre]
Texas WVU
Ashleigh (5-8) Stepney (5-7)
Yvonne (5-7) Caldwell (5-9)
Chassidy (5-10) Harlee (6-1)
Ashley (6-4) Bussie (6-4)
Cokie (6-4) Dunning (6-3) [/pre]
WVU are strong inside with Bussie and Dunning. The Horns’ posts will need to be able to challenge them when they get the ball but will have to be smart and stay out of foul trouble. The guards are not shooting well from BTA but do put up a lot of shots. Bussie and Caldwell get to the FT line but have trouble converting. WVU prides itself on their D and will look to pressure the Horns and deny open looks from BTA to the Texas guards, especially to Chassidy. But that leaves them vulnerable to back door cuts by the posts who will need to convert those close in looks. The battle of the boards will be important to allow Texas the opportunity to fast break while WVU will want to slow the game down and take advantage of their halfcourt game.
TEAM STATISTICS UT WVA Stan Hamp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCORING................. 2100 2046 2462 1970
Points per game....... 67.7 63.9 76.9 65.7
Scoring margin........ +5.2 +12.6 +22.2 +18.9
FIELD GOALS-ATT......... 773-1910 713-1777 919-2021 688-1852
Field goal pct........ .405 .401 .455 .371
FG made per game...... 24.9 22.3 28.7 22.9
FG att per game....... 61.6 55.5 63.2 61.7
2 POINT FG-ATT.......... 617-1449 551-1258 746-1463 490-1252
2-point FG pct........ .426 .438 .510 .391
2-pt FG made per game. 19.9 17.2 23.3 16.3
2-pt FG att per game.. 46.7 39.3 45.7 41.7 3 POINT FG-ATT.......... 156-461 162-519 173-558 198-600
3-point FG pct........ .338 .296 .310 .330
3-pt FG made per game. 5.0 4.5 5.4 6.6
3-pt FG att per game.. 14.9 16.2 17.4 20.0
FREE THROWS-ATT......... 398-572 476-708 451-588 396-537
Free throw pct........ .696 .672 .767 .737
F-Throws made per game 12.8 14.9 14.1 13.2
F-Throws att per game. 18.5 22.1 18.4 17.9
REBOUNDS................ 1258 1358 1428 1275
Rebounds per game..... 40.6 42.4 44.6 42.5
Rebounding margin..... +1.5 +8.7 +10.8 +6.8
ASSISTS................. 429 438 535 380
Assists per game...... 13.8 13.7 16.7 12.7
TURNOVERS............... 514 574 410 415
Turnovers per game.... 16.6 17.9 12.8 13.8
Turnover margin....... +0.8 +0.4 +1.8 +6.4
Assist/turnover ratio. 0.8 0.8 1.3 0.9
STEALS.................. 289 298 217 309
Steals per game....... 9.3 9.3 6.8 10.3
BLOCKS.................. 189 145 146 127
Blocks per game....... 6.1 4.5 4.6 4.2
ATTENDANCE.............. 67799 37792 68007 21560
Home games-Avg/Game... 17-3988 17-2223 16-4250 14-1540
[pre]
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st aver 2nd aver OT1 aver OT2 aver Total aver
------------------------- ---- ---- ---- ---- --- ---- --- ---- ----- ----
Texas.................... 973 31.4 1127 36.3 - - - - 2100 67.7
West Virginia............ 949 29.6 1097 34.3 - - - - 2046 63.9
Stanford................. 1204 37.5 1253 39.2 5 0.2 - - 2462 76.9
Hampton.................. 960 32.0 1001 33.4 9 0.3 - - 1970 65.7 [/pre]
WVU plays a physical in your face defensive game similar to A&M’s. While their strength is the scoring of their posts, they take just over 16 3s a game. Quantity makes up for shooting touch for the Mountaineers. Dominating on the boards helps to get those extra shots as does forcing TOs. Other than Caldwell, a RS Soph., WVU has frosh and sophs in their backcourt. The Horns will counter with experience as Yvonne and Ashleigh are seniors and Chassidy joins them as two year starters in the same backcourt while Chelsea has played significant minutes for two years, especially this year. The issue for the Horns is whether they will be able to shoot in the low to mid 40% from the field rather than the low to mid 30% they usually shoot on the road. Horns are 2-1 on neutral courts this season but 3-8 overall in road games (1-1 in non conference games). With Norfolk being so close to Morgantown, this could be more like a road game than a neutral site.
Game time is 10 AM, although I have seen 10:10 or 10:15 also. The game will be on ESPN2. KVET 1300 AM will carry the game on the radio with Craig Way and Carol Ross teaming up for the broadcast.
Some interesting links:
Texas 2011-12 Post Season Guide
texassports.com TX vs WVU game preview
Texas players & coaches reaction to going dancing
blank" href="http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/tournament">ESPN NCAA tournament home
WVU: WBB to face Texas
WVA WBB
Texas NCAA game tickets
5 Keys to WVU NCAA success-morgantown news
Times WV article on matchup
The West Virginia Mountaineers are led in scoring by three players in double figures: Asya Bussie (#20, 6-4 Jr. C; 12.2 ppg), Christal Caldwell (#1, 5-9 RS Soph. G; 11.1 ppg) and Taylor Palmer (#2, 5-9 Soph. G; 10.7 ppg). Ayana Dunning (#33, 6-3 RS Jr. C) adds 8.2 ppg. Their two top posts, Bussie and Dunning, top WVU in FG%. Bussie is at 53.6% (133-248) while Dunning is at 49.5% (98-198). Caldwell (134-338, 39.6%) and Palmer (118-364, 32.4%) are the only Mountaineers that have taken over 300 shots in the season. Only Natalie Burton (#35, 6-5 Sr. C; 15-29, 51.7%), Averee Fields (#5, 6-0 Fr. F; 22-48, 45.8%) and Crystal Leary (#32, 6-2 Fr. F; 12-30, 40.0%) along with Bussie and Dunning making at least 40% of their FGs. If she were making another 0.8 shots per game, Bussie would rank 14th nationally in FG%. Palmer (69-225, 30.7%) and Brooke Hampton (#4, 5-9 Fr. G; 32-101, 31.7%) are the main 3pt threats for the Mountaineers. Caldwell (17-53, 32.1%) and Linda Stepney (#22, 5-7 Fr. G; 12-24, 50.0%) are others the Horns will need to defend BTA. Bussie (123-209, 58.9%) and Caldwell (70-105, 66.7%) are the only ones that have attempted at least 100 FTs. Hampton, at 82.7% (43-52) is their top FT shooter and the player the Horns do not want to see on the FT line. Others hitting at least 70% from the FT line: Dunning (62-80, 77.5%), Jessica Harlee (#14, 6-1 Soph. F; 50-71, 70.4%), Stepney (43-60, 71.7%) and Leary (18-25, 72.0%).
Dunning (8.4 rpg) is their top rebounder. Bussie (6.7 rpg), Caldwell (5.8 rpg) and Harlee (5.3 rpg) are all over 5 rpg. No one else snatches more than 3 rpg. Hampton tops the team with 135 assists (4.4 apg) while primarily coming off the bench—six starts in 31 games. She does average 25.6 mpg, fifth highest on the team. Stepney (85) and Harlee (62) rank second and third in assists. No one else has more than 33 assists. Bussie has 70 blocks with Dunning at 23 and Harlee with 17 blocks. Harlee leads with 65 steals while Bussie has 40 and Dunning 38. Five others have between 23 and 29 steals.
Seven players have played in at least 31 of the 32 games WVU has played. All are averaging at least at least 20 minutes a game with Bussie’s 30.4 mpg tops. She is the only one over 30 mpg. Akilah Bethel (#3, 6-0 Fr. G) averages 11 mpg in 23 games while Leary averages 11.7 mpg in 15 games. Fields has played in 20 games averaging 9.6 mpg while Burton has played in 21 games, started in one and averages 6.2 mpg. WVU has a core rotation of seven players with four others that have played at times. The starting lineup in the last game consisted of Harlee, Dunning, Bussie, Caldwell and Stepney.
Horns are led by three guards with double figure scoring: Chassidy at 16.5 ppg and Ashleigh and Yvonne each averaging 11.9 ppg. Off the bench, Chelsea adds 7.8 ppg. Cokie is the top scoring post at 6.2 ppg. Chassidy, Ashleigh, Yvonne & Chelsea have taken 429 of 461 3s attempted by Texas. That’s 93% of all 3s taken by those four. They have made 97% of the treys hit by Texas. All four are hitting at least 30% from BTA with Chassidy’s 37.7% and Ashleigh’s 37.4% tops. Chassidy is the main 3pt threat for the Horns as she has taken and made almost twice as many 3s as Ashleigh, who is second in both categories. Chassidy is third nationally with her FT average of 90.5% on 86-95.Three others are all hitting over 70% from the FT line: Ashleigh (75-106, 70.8%), Yvonne (63-90, 70.0%) and Chelsea (46-65, 73.8%).Ashley is the top rebounder at 6.6 rpg. Five others are averaging between 4.3 and 4.9 rpg, including Chassidy (4.5) and Ashleigh (4.3). Yvonne (167), Ashleigh (112) and Chassidy (51) rank one-two-three in assists. Ashley, with 36, is the top post in assists and the fourth Horn with more than 16 assists in the season. Yvonne ranks 19th nationally with her assist average of 5.6 apg. Ashley has 90 blocks this season, tops in the team and 11th nationally with an average of 2.9 bpg. Yvonne tops the team with 81 steals. Ashleigh adds 51 and Chassidy 43. Ashley’s 33 steals are fourth on the team and tops the posts.
Horns have gone through the season with primarily eight players who average at least 16.8 mpg. Chassidy, Ashleigh and Yvonne all average over 30 mpg due to a shortage of guards. Four of the eight have been out most if not all season with injuries. Chelsea has missed some games late in the season due to an ankle injury. Those eight have all started at least two games. Ronisha has come on in the last few games to provide scoring and rebounding off the bench. The post rotation includes starters Ashley and Cokie with Nneka and Anne Marie as the top reserves. Chassidy, Ashleigh, and Yvonne have started in the backcourt almost all the games with the exception of two in which Chelsea stepped into the starting lineup when one of the three was not able to start. Right now, the rotation is nine players, split evenly with four in the front court and four in the backcourt with Ronisha able to play either.
Projected starting lineups are based on the last game. Both teams have made frequent changes to their starting lineups.
[pre]
Texas WVU
Ashleigh (5-8) Stepney (5-7)
Yvonne (5-7) Caldwell (5-9)
Chassidy (5-10) Harlee (6-1)
Ashley (6-4) Bussie (6-4)
Cokie (6-4) Dunning (6-3) [/pre]
WVU are strong inside with Bussie and Dunning. The Horns’ posts will need to be able to challenge them when they get the ball but will have to be smart and stay out of foul trouble. The guards are not shooting well from BTA but do put up a lot of shots. Bussie and Caldwell get to the FT line but have trouble converting. WVU prides itself on their D and will look to pressure the Horns and deny open looks from BTA to the Texas guards, especially to Chassidy. But that leaves them vulnerable to back door cuts by the posts who will need to convert those close in looks. The battle of the boards will be important to allow Texas the opportunity to fast break while WVU will want to slow the game down and take advantage of their halfcourt game.
TEAM STATISTICS UT WVA Stan Hamp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCORING................. 2100 2046 2462 1970
Points per game....... 67.7 63.9 76.9 65.7
Scoring margin........ +5.2 +12.6 +22.2 +18.9
FIELD GOALS-ATT......... 773-1910 713-1777 919-2021 688-1852
Field goal pct........ .405 .401 .455 .371
FG made per game...... 24.9 22.3 28.7 22.9
FG att per game....... 61.6 55.5 63.2 61.7
2 POINT FG-ATT.......... 617-1449 551-1258 746-1463 490-1252
2-point FG pct........ .426 .438 .510 .391
2-pt FG made per game. 19.9 17.2 23.3 16.3
2-pt FG att per game.. 46.7 39.3 45.7 41.7 3 POINT FG-ATT.......... 156-461 162-519 173-558 198-600
3-point FG pct........ .338 .296 .310 .330
3-pt FG made per game. 5.0 4.5 5.4 6.6
3-pt FG att per game.. 14.9 16.2 17.4 20.0
FREE THROWS-ATT......... 398-572 476-708 451-588 396-537
Free throw pct........ .696 .672 .767 .737
F-Throws made per game 12.8 14.9 14.1 13.2
F-Throws att per game. 18.5 22.1 18.4 17.9
REBOUNDS................ 1258 1358 1428 1275
Rebounds per game..... 40.6 42.4 44.6 42.5
Rebounding margin..... +1.5 +8.7 +10.8 +6.8
ASSISTS................. 429 438 535 380
Assists per game...... 13.8 13.7 16.7 12.7
TURNOVERS............... 514 574 410 415
Turnovers per game.... 16.6 17.9 12.8 13.8
Turnover margin....... +0.8 +0.4 +1.8 +6.4
Assist/turnover ratio. 0.8 0.8 1.3 0.9
STEALS.................. 289 298 217 309
Steals per game....... 9.3 9.3 6.8 10.3
BLOCKS.................. 189 145 146 127
Blocks per game....... 6.1 4.5 4.6 4.2
ATTENDANCE.............. 67799 37792 68007 21560
Home games-Avg/Game... 17-3988 17-2223 16-4250 14-1540
[pre]
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st aver 2nd aver OT1 aver OT2 aver Total aver
------------------------- ---- ---- ---- ---- --- ---- --- ---- ----- ----
Texas.................... 973 31.4 1127 36.3 - - - - 2100 67.7
West Virginia............ 949 29.6 1097 34.3 - - - - 2046 63.9
Stanford................. 1204 37.5 1253 39.2 5 0.2 - - 2462 76.9
Hampton.................. 960 32.0 1001 33.4 9 0.3 - - 1970 65.7 [/pre]
WVU plays a physical in your face defensive game similar to A&M’s. While their strength is the scoring of their posts, they take just over 16 3s a game. Quantity makes up for shooting touch for the Mountaineers. Dominating on the boards helps to get those extra shots as does forcing TOs. Other than Caldwell, a RS Soph., WVU has frosh and sophs in their backcourt. The Horns will counter with experience as Yvonne and Ashleigh are seniors and Chassidy joins them as two year starters in the same backcourt while Chelsea has played significant minutes for two years, especially this year. The issue for the Horns is whether they will be able to shoot in the low to mid 40% from the field rather than the low to mid 30% they usually shoot on the road. Horns are 2-1 on neutral courts this season but 3-8 overall in road games (1-1 in non conference games). With Norfolk being so close to Morgantown, this could be more like a road game than a neutral site.
Game time is 10 AM, although I have seen 10:10 or 10:15 also. The game will be on ESPN2. KVET 1300 AM will carry the game on the radio with Craig Way and Carol Ross teaming up for the broadcast.
Some interesting links:
Texas 2011-12 Post Season Guide
texassports.com TX vs WVU game preview
Texas players & coaches reaction to going dancing
blank" href="http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/tournament">ESPN NCAA tournament home
WVU: WBB to face Texas
WVA WBB
Texas NCAA game tickets
5 Keys to WVU NCAA success-morgantown news
Times WV article on matchup
