MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 22 West Virginia’s lopsided home loss to Iowa State left coach Mike Carey grasping for answers.
The Cyclones had lost all six road games this season before Bridget Carleton scored 31 points Saturday in a stunning 80-55 upset at the WVU Coliseum.
Iowa State shot 51 percent from the field and posted its largest win over a ranked team since 2001.
“Needless to say, Iowa State came in here on our home floor and played five times harder than we did,” Carey said. “We didn’t play any defense. We don’t care about defense. We look so one-on-one defensively, one-on-one offensively. I don’t have any answers.”
The Mountaineers (16-7, 4-7 Big 12) couldn’t contain Carleton, who shot 12-of-21 and grabbed seven rebounds. The sophomore guard scored 22 in the opening half when the Cyclones (13-10, 4-8) built a 37-28 lead.
“Obviously, that’s as good as we can play in a lot of ways,” said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly.
Katrina Pardee led WVU with 16 points and added five rebounds. Tynice Martin had 13 points, all in the second half, and a team-high five assists. Lanay Montgomery and Teana Muldrow each had nine rebounds. Off the bench, sophomore Alexis Brewer had nine points on 3-of-7 shooting with three assists.
The Mountaineers shot 29 percent (19-64) and 7-of-29 from 3-point range (7-29).
Carey was at a loss about getting his team back on track for Tuesday’s game at No. 18 Oklahoma.
“I don’t know. I can’t do heart transplants can I? It’s all about heart,” he said. “It’s all about wanting to do it. It’s all about team basketball. They don’t do what we do. This team is not built to do what we do. They do what they want to do, and the only one you can blame is me. I can’t kick them all off. They just don’t come out with any energy.”