Wake Forest University
West Virginia (WNIT 3rd Round)
Women's Basketball Falls to West Virginia, 65-52
3/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 24, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- - The Wake Forest women's basketball team made a valiant comeback from an 11 point half time deficit and senior Erin Ferrell was one rebound shy of a double-double, but the West Virginia Mountaineers pulled it out, defeating the Demon Deacons, 65-52 in the third round of the 2005 Sportsview.tv Women's National Invitational Tournament.
In the first half, Wake's shooting was cold, with the Deac's only hitting 9 of 28, where as the Mountaineers were at a solid 42 percent, with Olayinka Sanni dropping in 12 points in the first stanza alone. As the game progressed, the Wake offense picked it up and the Deacs were able to tie the score at 49 with four minutes remaining, but a nine point run by West Virginia pushed them ahead.
Closing out her career in a Deacon uniform, Ferrell put up the team high 17 points and the game high nine rebounds, while Cotelia Bond-Young added 12. Liz Strunk closed the night with 10 points and four rebounds, in addition to two steals.
The Deacs were slow coming out in the first half, shooting 0-7 in the first five minutes, giving the Mountaineers the opportunity to jump out to an early lead. Wake finally got on the board at 15:41 with Strunk under the basket and then Bond-Young with a three at the top of the key. Sinking three straight buckets Ferrell gave the Deacs a one point lead at 16-15, but it was short lived as West Virginia took Wake Forest on a 10-0 run, closing out the first half with a 11 point lead.
Picking it up in the beginning of the second, Bond-Young sunk five points quickly, but West Virginia's Jessica Bulger kept the Mountaineers from giving up the lead by scoring eight in a row. A pair from Ferrell with about nine minutes remaining brought the score within six and then a stop and a lay up with a free throw by Jones brought the game down to five. Despite pushing the lead out to nine again, Wake went on a 9-0 run, tying the score at 49 all. Sherell Sowho was able to bring West Virginia back into it with a 9-0 run of its own and time was not on the Deacs side.
The Mountaineers put three players in double figures, including Bulger with the game high 18. Sanni added 15, while Sowho had 14. As a team, West Virginia scored 21 points off turnovers, forcing 16 on the Deacs.
The Demon Deacons close their season with a 17-15 overall record, giving them the first winning season since the 1989-90 season and the most victories since the 1987-88 season. This was also the first time since 1987-88 that the Deacs have made it to post season action.
