MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Coach Mike Carey’s 250th victory at West Virginia became a runaway, but not before Coppin State made the Mountaineers sweat for a half.
Christal Caldwell scored 16 of her season-high 22 points after intermission when WVU stretched a three-point lead into an 88-56 blowout Tuesday night at the Coliseum.
“We played better in the second half, that’s it,” Carey said. “Give Coppin State credit. They didn’t back down. They came in and played hard.”
Taylor Palmer scored 18 points off the bench—15 in the second half—and Asya Bussie grabbed 11 rebounds as West Virginia (6-1) won its sixth straight game since dropping the opener to Ohio State.
Carey improved to 250-142 in 13 seasons at WVU and 538-244 overall.
“I’m going to say the same thing everyone else says: I’ve had a lot of great players, support and assistant coaches, but I just think you can win at West Virginia,” he said. “It’s a great place to coach. Hopefully I can win a few more.”
WVU shot only 33.3 percent from the field and went 0-for-5 on 3-point attempts in the first half before making 58.8 percent overall with 6-of-12 shooting on 3s in the second half.
“There were shots that we passed up in the first half, then we forced it and turned it over. We only had six turnovers in the second half. We have to be aggressive,” Carey said.
Coppin State (3-4) made 42.9 percent of its shots in the opening half, but only 27.3 percent after the break.
- West Virginia women’s coach Mike Carey
Kyra Coleman and Ashle Craig led the Eagles with 15 and 14 points, respectively.