2009-10
MOUNTAINEERS COACHING STAFF PROFILES OUTLOOK THE BIG EAST OPPONENT INFO 2009-10 REVIEW THE RECORD BOOK WVU MEDIA INFO
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M O U N TA I N E E R S
The Carey Years AT WEST VIRGINIA 2009-10: 29-6, 13-3 BIG EAST
All-BIG EAST Selections: 7 All-American Honors: 0 NCAA Second Round With no seniors and predicted to finish ninth in the preseason BIG EAST Coaches’ Poll, the Mountaineers exceeded all expectations, won a school-record 29 games, program-best 13 BIG EAST contests, finished second in the regular season league standings and in the tournament, reeled off 16-consecutive wins during the season, the longest since 1992, and had a program-best seven BIG EAST award winners, including Carey being named co-Coach of the Year. WVU reached as high as No. 7 in both major polls. WVU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last four years and posted a 17-0 mark at the Coliseum, marking the most home wins in school history and the second undefeated season. Sarah Miles garnered the BIG EAST’s Defensive Player of the Year award and earned all-league second team and alltournament team honors. Liz Repella became the program’s second first team Academic All-American and garnered all-BIG EAST first team, all-league tournament and Preseason WNIT all-tournament team honors. Freshman center Asya Bussie garnered unanimous all-BIG EAST freshman team honors and junior transfer Korinne Campbell earned all-league honorable mention honors.
2008-09:18-15, 5-11 BIG EAST
All-BIG EAST Selections: 3 All-American Honors: 0 WNIT Second Round Arguably Carey’s best WVU coaching job, the eighth-year coach took just eight healthy players and guided them to a WNIT second round appearance. Along the way, the Mountaineers won at No. 5 Louisville, the nation’s runner-up, marking the highest-ranked road team WVU had ever defeated in program history. WVU also knocked off eventual WNIT champion USF. Liz Repella and Takisha Granberry became just the second duo in school history to each score 500 points or more in the same season and Repella became the fourth player in WVU annals to score 500 points and grab 250 points in the same season. Repella and Granberry garnered all-BIG EAST second team accolades while Sarah Miles was named the league’s Most Improved Player.
2007-08: 25-8, 12-4 BIG EAST
All-BIG EAST Selections: 3 All-American Honors: 1 NCAA Tournament Second Round Led by the largest senior class in school history (7), West Virginia posted the second-most wins in school history and defeated three ranked teams,
including No. 4 Rutgers, the highest-ranked foe the program had ever defeated. Other victories over ranked opponents included No. 14 Notre Dame and No. 18 Pitt. The squad became the first team in program history to be ranked in the Top-20 for an entire season and reached the NCAA Tournament for the second-consecutive season – a school first. West Virginia reached as high as No. 11 in the Coaches’ Poll and the AP Poll and was just the 12th team in NCAA history to boast four 1,000 point scorers on the same squad. WVU finished third in the BIG EAST conference, its highest finish since joining the league in 1995-96, and advanced to its third semi-final appearance in six seasons. The 25 wins also marked the second-most in school history. Olayinka Sanni garnered all-BIG EAST first team accolades for the second-straight year, as well as honorable mention all-American honors, while Meg Bulger and LaQuita Owens were named to the conference’s second team. Sanni was later drafted by the WNBA’s Detroit Shock and won a championship with them in her rookie campaign.
2006-07: 21-11, 11-5 BIG EAST
All-BIG EAST Selections: 3 All-American Honors: 1 NCAA Tournament Second Round Facing arguably the toughest schedule in school history, including a grueling non-conference slate that featured three Top-25 teams, all on the road, West Virginia posted just an 8-7 record 15 games into the season. But a 12-2 regular season finish vaulted WVU to a fourth-place finish in the BIG EAST with an 11-5 mark. It marked the thenhighest finish in school history since WVU joined the league in 1995-96. WVU knocked off two Top 25 ranked teams on the season, both road games, with wins over No. 24 DePaul and No. 20 Louisville. WVU went on to earn an 11-seed in the NCAA tournament and defeated No. 6 Xavier, 65-52, marking the Mountaineers’ first NCAA tournament win since 1992. Olayinka Sanni garnered all-BIG EAST first team honors, and honorable mention AP All-American accolades, while LaQuita Owens was named to the second team and Chakhia Cole earned honorable mention honors. WVU posted its third 21-win season in the last four years.
2005-06: 15-16, 4-12 BIG EAST
All-BIG EAST Selections: 3 All-American Honors: 1 BIG EAST Championship Game West Virginia rallied from losing eight-straight games to end the regular season with one of the most remarkable runs in the history of women’s college basketball. As the 12th, and final seed, the Mountaineers entered the tournament with nothing to lose. And they didn’t until narrowly
missing out on a first-ever BIG EAST championship. The Mountaineers defeated three higher seeded teams, all NCAA Tournament teams (No. 5 Louisville, No. 4 St. John’s, No. 1 Rutgers), before falling to No. 2 Connecticut, 50-44, in the championship game. In that contest, WVU trailed by just one with 30 seconds to go. The run was the first of its kind in the BIG EAST and one of just a handful in the history of the women’s game. In the BIG EAST, no 12 seed had ever won a game let alone advance to the championship game playing four contests in four days. Chakhia Cole and Britney Davis-White were named to the All-BIG EAST Tournament team. Meg Bulger, lost to a major knee injury just 18 games into the season, garnered all-BIG EAST second team honors as well as honorable mention All-America accolades.
2004-05: 21-13, 7-9 BIG EAST
All-BIG EAST Selections: 2 All-American Honors: 2 WNIT Championship Game WVU started the season with a 9-0 record en route to its first-ever WNIT postseason championship game appearance and the longest postseason win streak in school history (4). Led by senior point guard Yolanda Paige and sharp shooting sophomore Meg Bulger, the Mountaineers posted their second-straight 21-win season for the first time in school history. Paige broke every Mountaineer single-game, season- and career- assist record. She tallied 18 assists in a win over Northwestern, 297
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