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On the phone with Villanova head women's basketball coach Harry Perretta:
The West Virginia women’s basketball team will attempt to continue its best start in school history when it takes on Villanova tonight at the WVU Coliseum.
Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Mountaineers (15-1, 3-0 Big East) have won 13 consecutive games and is off to the best start in school history. After winning a majority of its contests by double-figures, the Mountaineers have won their last three games by an average of just five points.
"It’s big to win close games, and we’ve been able to do that," said WVU head coach Mike Carey. "We’ve been able to come back and get the win. Sometimes that doesn’t happen, but it has been happening recently for us, and we have to take advantage of that."
West Virginia will also try to stay undefeated in the Big East against the Wildcats (10-4, 0-2 Big East).
Villanova executes a unique offense that focuses on taking time off the clock and utilizing different screens to create scoring lanes. Villanova head coach Harry Perretta has been successful over his 32-year tenure with the offense compiling 582 wins for the coach.
"Harry’s a good friend of mine, but when it comes down to playing him I can’t stand him," Carey joked. "That’s their style, and they’ve been successful. They’ve given us fits because it’s totally against our style of play."
Villanova leads the all-time series 7-18 and won last year’s meeting 54-52.
In the last 17 meetings between the two schools, West Virginia has won just three times.
The Wildcats suffered a blow earlier this season, though, when starting junior forward Amanda Swiezynski and senior guard Tia Grant suffered season-ending knee injuries.
"It is frustrating, but it’s part of the game," Perretta said. "I’ve been coaching a long time, and I can only think of three or four seasons where injuries have directly impacted the wins and losses over the years, so I’ve been pretty lucky."
Without the injured pair, the Wildcats are averaging just 52.4 points per game. Villanova has scored more than 60 points only four times this season, and won four games when scoring 44 points.
Redshirt freshman Laura Sweeney and senior Maria Getty lead the team in scoring with 11.3 points and 10.2 points, respectively.
"Our younger players are going to have to play better," Perretta said. "That’s easier said that done. They have to grow up very quickly."
The Wildcats have lost their last two games to Providence and Notre Dame.
They also lost to the Friars 52-38 and the Fighting Irish 81-46.
Despite Villanova’s recent struggles, Carey is still focused on making sure his team can defend the Wildcats’ offense. He said having just played DePaul, which runs a similar style of offense, has helped prepare his team.
"It’s a chess match with them," Carey said. "We’ll try to speed them up, but they’re good with what they do. The key for us is being patient defensively. We can’t lunge and try to go for steals because they’ll back door us.
"If they hate the three’s, they’re tough to beat; if they’re not hitting three’s we’ll have a chance."
Junior Liz Repella continues to lead the Mountaineers with 15.2 points per game, while freshman Asya Bussie and junior Korinne Campbell are just behind her with 12.4 points and 11 points, respectively.
Junior Sarah Miles, who is averaging 9.5 points per game, leads the Big East Conference with 7.3 points per game.
West Virginia moved up four spots to No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, and was ranked No. 17 in last week’s USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches’ poll.
"We feel very fortunate to be 15-1," Carey said. "But we realize there’s a lot of season left, and we have to continue to get better."
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