Reserves Carry WVU Women

Crystal Leary produced a double-double off the bench and West Virginia’s reserves outscored its starters in a 64-48 victory over Marshall at the Capital Classic.

Leary finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and five steals in 32 minutes, while fellow reserve Bria Holmes scored 13 of her game-high 15 points in the first half. A crowd of 2,606 saw the Mountaineers (5-2) win their eighth straight game in the series.

“Crystal plays hard and she plays hard every game,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. “I told her after the game I wish I could get everybody to play as hard as her.”

Carey also was pleased with the boost his team received from the freshman Holmes, whose shooting sparked WVU to a 35-23 lead at the half. Holmes also finished with five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

“Bria Holmes hit some shots and did some good things,” Carey said.

Marshall (4-4) missed a chance to keep the game closer by missing 7-of-8 first-half free throws. The Herd finished 5-of-17 from the foul line.

WVU’s starting center Ayana Dunning contributed 13 points and six rebounds, but played only 16 minutes while saddled with foul trouble. Taylor Palmer chipped in seven points and Averee Fields added six points and seven rebounds, helping WVU to a 48-41 edge on the boards

Leandra King was the only double-figures scorer for the Herd with 10 points.

The WVU men meet Marshall on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.