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The third-seeded West Virginia women’s basketball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament as it defeated Lamar 58-43 Sunday night in Austin, Texas.
The Mountaineers got off to a quick start and didn’t look back.
West Virginia started the game on a 19-3 run through the first 7:25 in the game.
In that period, Lamar was just 1-for-12 from the field, while the Mountaineers were 8-for-15 from the field.
After its hot start, West Virginia then went cold, going scoreless for nearly eight minutes. Lamar went on a 9-1 run of its own to pull within 20-12 with 6:20 remaining in the first half.
Junior Sarah Miles ended the scoring drought for the Mountaineers with a steal and a layup to extend the West Virginia lead back to 10.
The Mountaineers would be able to capture back the momentum as they went into halftime with a 33-21 advantage.
Junior Madina Ali almost knotched a double-double in the first half as she scored nine points and had seven rebounds. She was held scoreless in the second half but grabbed two rebounds to finish with a total of 11 rebounds.
West Virginia extended its lead to 13 just 2:47 into the second half as Liz Repella drained a 3-point shot. The Steubenville, Ohio, native finished with a team-high 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Lamar still refused to go down without a fight. The Cardinals cut the Mountaineer lead to 38-30 with 13:28 left in the game as Daikairi Hill made a jumpshot.
Six straight West Virginia points capped off by an Asya Bussie layup forced a Lamar timeout.
West Virginia was able to extend its lead to 48-30 with 7:19 remaining after a Sarah Miles layup.
Miles, a San Antonio native who was playing in front of her family for the first time since joining the Mountaineers, scored 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals.
West Virginia was able to hold Lamar leading scorer Jenna Plumley nine points and four assists. The junior came into Sunday’s game averaging 14.4 points and 6.7 assists.
The Mountaineers were able to hold Lamar to only two field goals in the final five minutes .
West Virginia out-rebounded the Cardinals 45-to-28, including a 15-to-4 advantage on the offensive glass.
Junior Vanessa House contributed nine points off the bench, including two 3-pointers.
West Virginia will face eleventh-seeded San Diego State Tuesday.
The Aztecs upset sixth-seeded Texas on the Longhorns home court 74-63.
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