When the selections for seeding and also their opponent were made last Monday evening everything went against West Virginia. They were seeded 5th and had to play New Mexico at THEIR home court at THE PIT. As the game played on apparently the refs decided to screw the girls in the second half and it ALMOST worked. Senior Chikhia Cole ruined their plans and sent the Lobo faithful home dejected and the refs bummed. Cole’s masterful 22 point 11 rebound performance including a turn around jumper from 14 feet with 19.6 seconds left gave the Eers a 61-60 victory over New Mexico. They will play 4th seed Vanderbilt Monday night at THE PIT. I doubt the locals will be cheering for the senior-dominated Eers which, as always, will be good for us

It was apparently going to be a dogfight from the beginning when star senior Yinka Sanni was called for two fouls in the game’s first four minutes. However WVU went on a 10-2 run to give the Eers a 10-5 lead. The Lobos hung in there with some timely treys to keep the game close throughout the first half. With the score tied at 29 WVU scored the final seven points of the half incuding a Cole jumper as time ran out.

In the second half, the Lobos were not going to go away quietly. They scored the first five points of the second half. West Virginia tried to pull away leading as much as seven but once again the Lobos kept hanging in there. With the urging of a sold-out Lobo contingent they finally reached the breakthrough when Dionne Marsh drained a couple free throws with 4:02 left to give the Lobos 53-52 lead.

Then came the game’s most controversial moment when a Lobo lost control of her feet. Then came point guard Ashley Powell to try to tie her up. The Lobo called timeout and Powell, while on top of her, tried to get up but the Lobo player raised her legs up tripping Powell in the process. Powell took offense and was called for the T. Powell couldn’t believed went just happened and Coach Mike Carey promptly benched her for the rest of the game. Amy Beggin calmly drained both free throws to give the Lobos a 55-52 lead.

Then Cole took over as only a senior would. She hit a three from the top of the key to tie the game up. On the next possession she drained two free throws to keep pace with the Lobos. After Angela Hartill made a three-point jumper that’s when Cole made her game winning jumper. Still with 4.8 seconds left the Lobos tried to drive to hoop and the ball went off her sneaker….oh wait the refs call it the other way. BIG SURPRISE. Then on the inbounds the Lobos had a wide-open three but instead drove to hoop into the waiting body of Sanni. She held her position strong near the hoop despite an attemped acting job by the Lobo player. The refs did not fall for that.

So the West Virginia Mountaineer women’s basketball team live to fight another day. That’s this Monday night as they face the Commondores of Vanderbilt. Great road win. They did what seniors are suppose to do and are now 40 minutes away from their first Sweet 16 appearance in 16 years. Once again, as TC would say, it’s a great day to be a Mountaineer wherever you may be.