MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With Bria Holmes and Asya Bussie scoring 22 points each and West Virginia’s enjoying a 49-18 rebounding edge, it was no wonder the Mountaineers women’s basketball team cracked the 100-point mark for the first time in eight seasons.
WVU placed five players in double figures and saw its bench nearly outscore Delaware State in a 109-47 victory Wednesday at the WVU Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (9-1) shot a season-best 56.5 percent from the field on its way to the fourth-highest points total in program history.
Off the bench Taylor Palmer scored 13 points while redshirt freshman Lanay Montgomery produced career highs with 11 points and eight rebounds. Crystal Leary had a season-high 10 points and two blocked shots in 19 minutes as WVU held a 46-8 edge in bench scoring.
“It was good to get everybody some playing time,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said, whose team ran its winning streak to nine.
The WVU women last reached 100 points on Dec. 21, 2005, in a win against Kennesaw State, and triple-digits seemed assured after they led 61-26 at halftime Wednesday.
“They didn’t double (Asya), but I thought our girls did a good job of looking for her early and often,” Carey said. “I thought when we ran our halfcourt stuff, we did a nice job of reversing the ball, getting high-low and got some 3s out of it.
Bussie topped the 20-point mark for the fourth time in her career, going 8-of-8 from the free-throw line and 7-of-8 from the floor.
Holmes was 9-of-13 shooting, along with five assists, five steals and four rebounds.
“When Bria wants to run, she can run as fast as anyone I have,” Carey said. “She is very athletic. The way she jumps and her quickness and height—she can dominate the boards if she wanted to.”
West Virginia dished out 27 assists behind Brooke Hampton’s game-leading seven. Linda Stepney and Jess Harlee each added six assists.
“I want Jess to shoot a little bit more, but she didn’t. Jess is going to give you everything she has,” Carey said. “Her type of game is getting up the lanes and getting steals.
WVU forced 26 turnovers by Delaware State (3-6), which shot 32.6 percent from the floor without season scoring leader Tierra Hawkins. In her absence, Raven Bankston scored 16 points and Deanna Harmon added 10.
WVU visits Duquesne on Saturday in Pittsburgh, hoping to avenge two straight losses in the series.
“We have a tough game coming up against Duquesne,” Carey said. “They beat us two years in a row and they celebrated on their home floor. It’s a tough matchup for us, but no excuses, we need to go in there and get the win.”