MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Bria Holmes scored 20 of her 32 points in the first half and the No. 22 West Virginia women’s basketball team drummed Evansville 83-39 at the WVU Coliseum on Wednesday night.
The Mountaineers (3-1) bounced back from a WNIT loss at Mississippi State by leading 41-22 at the half. The rest of the game wasn’t any closer as WVU held Evansville (1-3) to 20-percent shooting and owned a massive rebounding edge, 62-31.
While Holmes surpassed the 30-point mark for the second time this season, the star guard finished 0-of-7 from 3-point range.
Crystal Leary scored a career-high 14 points and four blocks off the bench, while Averee Fields scored 12, her fourth-straight game in double figures.
The Mountaineers tempered season-high 46-percent shooting by committing 18 turnovers, including six by Bre McDonald in 17 minutes.
“It’s always nice to get a win,” said WVU associate head coach Chester Nichols. “Obviously, we fixed some things, but there are still some things we have to clean up moving forward.”
Teana Muldrow led the rebounding barrage with nine. Holmes and Linda Stepney finished with six each.
The 62 rebounds were the most for West Virginia since beating Temple on Feb. 12, 1994.
Sarah Dickey scored 16 points for the Purple Aces, albeit on 4-of-21 shooting.