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New lineup yields new standout as WVU women upset No. 21 OSU

STILLWATER, Okla. — Mike Carey shuffled his lineup for the first time this season, and new starter Bre McDonald made him glad he did.

McDonald scored a career-high 16 points and the West Virginia women claimed their first Big 12 victory by stunning No. 21 Oklahoma State 61-49 on Saturday.

Point guard Linda Stepney hit 9-of-10 free throws on her way to 15 points, and Bria Holmes finished with 10 rebounds and 10 points for her first career double-double. West Virginia (11-6, 1-4 Big 12) led 27-23 at halftime before seizing command with a late 21-4 run.

McDonald provided a spark by making three of West Virginia’s eight 3-pointers. Her trey put the Mountaineers ahead to stay at 39-38.

“This is her first game to start,” Carey said. “She came into the game focused and ready to play. That was great.”

Oklahoma State (12-4, 2-3) went cold in the second half and finished with 28.8 percent shooting overall. Some of the shooting woes were attributed to West Virginia blocking eight shots, six by Lanay Montgomery.

“They’re long, they’re athletic, they close on you in a hurry,” said Oklahoma State coach Jim Littell. “When you get by them they’re good at recovering and swatting some shots.

“You don’t have to go very far to look at the outcome of the game. You have to make shots. Our stat line across the board shooting the basketball is not conducive to getting wins in this league: 19-for-66 overall, 2-for-14 from 3.”

The Mountaineers also dominated the Cowgirls on the boards 52-36, picking up their first win over a Top-25 team since beating No. 6 Baylor on March 2, 2014.

“I thought overall our players played hard,” said WVU coach Carey. “We got some scoring off the bench, which we haven’t been doing. It was good to get a win.”

Jessica Morton tallied seven points in 12 minutes.

LaShawn Jones finished with a team-high 12 points for the Cowgirls, as Liz Donhoe added 11. Brittney Martin was held to eight points on 4-of-18 shooting.

“They play a lot tighter defense than most teams in the Big 12, like denying everything,” Martin said. “They play different from everybody in the Big 12. … I think them playing up on us and denying everything and speeding our game us kind of threw us off.”

The Mountaineers return home to face Kansas State on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

 





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