For the seven seniors on the 13th ranked West Virginia women’s basketball roster, this is the end of the road. The most successful group of players in women’s basketball school history will be walking down the rolled out blue and gold carpet one last time. For star players Meg Bulger, Yinka Sanni, LaQuita Owens, and Chakhia Cole this is a bittersweet moment. Coach Mike Carey did a excellent job recruiting these four and turning around the program. They are now well respected in the Big East with a Top 15 ranking for most of the season. Let’s not also forget the other seniors who keep the wheels turning. Kendra Goodley, Lateefah Joye, and Ranisha White may not have played on a consistent basis but they still do a phenomenal job on and off the court and should be honored as well.

Today they face Big East foe the Louisville Cardinals who have rolled off seven straight wins and actually have a better RPI rating than the Mountaineers (14 compared to 17 for the Eers). If there’s one player to keep in mind for the Cards it’s one Angel McCoughtry. In last season’s meeting at Freedom Hall, McCoughtry put on a show as she scored 33 points with 9 rebounds. However, the Eers in a must-win situation came from behind to beat the Cards 76-71 in OT. Owens put on a show of her own as she scored 30 points. McCoughtry this season leads the Big East in scoring with a mind-blowing 23.6 points a game. Except another 30-point output from her against the Eers today.

While these two teams are evenly match this game may come down to the crowd which may be difficult to have a good showing with the men’s game being at noon while the tipoff for here is at 2pm. It will also come down to WVU’s three point shooting. Louisville gives up 30 percent from three while the Eers shoot close to 39 percent leading the Big East. Meg Bulger leads the Big East with 46.6 percent three-shoot shooting. What a great sendoff that would be if Meg can rain about 5 treys to give the Eers a much-needed win as would Owens who makes 41 percent of her three-point shots. It would be great to see Sanni get a double-double while Cole plays her solid all-around game.

This is indeed a MUST WIN for the Eers as they would clinch a third-place spot in the Big East Tournament and a first-round bye. On the other hand, a loss to the Cards would put the Mountaineers in a dangerous situation. They will head to Syracuse on Monday with the concern that if they don’t win that one as well they will finish as low as sixth due to the potential “short-straw” tie-breakers with Louisville and Pittsburgh. As Al Davis would say “Just Win Baby”. Let’s stop this Louisville winning streak and punch a ticket to Hartford knowing you don’t have to play the first day. Good luck and GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!