The 11th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers finally exact revenge on the hated Pittsburgh Panthers are they held them to just over a frigid 20 percent from the field.  That was the story of the game as the WVU women dominated 18th-ranked Pitt 56-35.  Senior Yinka Sanni got the better of her adversary “Mo-Mo” Walker scoring a game-high 17 points with 7 rebounds.  Walker got her 10 rebounds but was held to 2 points only on free throws.  The one player affected by the WVU defense the most was Shavonte Zellous.  She was 2 of 11 from the field while being held to only 6 points, 14 below her scoring average.  Her game was so off that she got benched with 13 minutes left in the game by Mrs. Doubtfire’s body-double also known as Pitt head coach Agnes Berenato  (I give the Maniacs credit for that).  

The game starting off ice-cold.  Both teams had only one field goal each in the first 8 minutes.  Then the Mountaineers started to take control of the game with super sub senior Meg Bulger draining a couple of threes to spear-headed a 16-2 run to give the Eers an 18-4 lead. Pitt remained held to that one field goal until the 3:26 mark of the first half.  They were only 4 of 28 shooting in the first half.  Sanni’s wide open lay-up gave the Mountaineers a 25-13 at the half.

In the second half West Virginia took control for good as they went on another 16-2 run to give the Mounties a 41-17 lead.  A lead too insurmountable to come back for the Pitt Panthers.  The only highlight really for them is benchwarmer Ashleigh Braxton shooting threes from Preston County and draining them, three in all.  Yinka Sanni was too much to handle while Chakhia Cole was knocking them on the backside.  Her WWE-type takedowns threw the Panthers off their game while shutting up the cocky Panthers contingent who took the bus ride to the Coliseum  One hundred or so strong they left with their tails between their legs.

If this game doesn’t give notice to the AP and Coaches voters to place them in the Top Ten, then I’m afraid nothing else would.  Now the Mountaineers are breaking away from the pretenders to join the ranks of UCONN and Rutgers as the only teams in the Big East with one conference loss.  West Virginia has already reached the 20-win mark this season.  Their will be a rematch between these two teams on Tuesday February 26 at the Petersen Events Center.  Should be an interesting one.  Now we Mountaineer fans must pack the house Saturday afternoon at they face the DePaul Blue Demons at 2:00 pm Saturday afternoon.  Arrive early if you want to get good seats for free.  Way to go women but we still owe sPitt twice more.  That may not be enough to numb the pain the Panthers set on us repeatedly but it’s a start.