WVU tops Rutgers, will face undefeated UConn in title game

The West Virginia women's basketball team defeated Rutgers Monday 56-49 in the semifinals of the Big East Conference Tournament at the XL Center.

With the victory, the Mountaineers punched their ticket to the Big East Title game and will face No. 1 Connecticut tonight at 8. It will be WVU's second Big East Championship game appearance – the first was a 50-44 loss to the Huskies in 2006.

WVU guard Sarah Miles fueled the win, scoring 18 points to lead all scorers.

"A lot of people have to understand that she was a two guard last year," Carey said. "To be doing the things she is doing is now is unbelievable."

It was Miles whose early 3-pointer helped spark a 9-0 run after the Scarlet Knights cut the deficit to 8-6 early in the first half.

"I just knew our shooters were having a tough night, so we had to find points another way," Miles said. "So I decided to step up myself and try to get the ball to the hole."

The victory was not as easy as the score represented, however, as the Mountaineers fought off the Scarlet Knights' charges throughout the contest.

"Rutgers came out and played extremely hard," Carey said of a Rutgers team which had played three consecutive nights, including a double-overtime game Monday. "I thought Rutgers beat us up-and-down the floor in the first half."

After some back-and-forth play to put the score at 21-10, Rutgers laced together a run of their own. The Scarlet Knights scored 11 straight to tie the game, and
after a timeout by Carey, it looked as if WVU could be in trouble.

The timeout appeared to calm the Mountaineers, as they scored four quick points for a 25-21 advantage. But Rutgers stayed relentless and sent the game into the half tied at 25-25 after Nikki Speed intercepted an inbounds pass and laid it in.

"We got a little bit lackadaisical at the end of the half," Carey said.

Despite what could have been a big momentum swing in favor of Rutgers, WVU used its end of the half struggles as a spark.

"I was dreading going into the locker room, but I think that may have given us an edge in the second half, because we really wanted to get after it," said guard Liz Repella. "We just wanted to come back with a lot more intensity."

A fiery speech by Carey combined with halftime adjustments allowed the Mountaineers to rebound quickly in the second half. WVU stormed out to a 38-31 lead, as they again used a 9-0 run to attempt to put away Rutgers.

The Mountaineers finally looked to have buried the Scarlet Knights with just over six minutes remaining as center Natalie Burton extended the lead to 12 points – WVU's largest lead of the game.

Rutgers made one final run, but it just wasn't enough in the end due to the clutch free-throw shooting of the Mountaineers.