By Bob Hertzel
MORGANTOWN — Listen to Mike Carey, West Virginia’s women’s basketball coach.
“We set basketball back 20 years,” he said after his team’s second round game in the Women’s Preseason NIT.
And his team won the game.
Think about how badly Marist must have played, as the Mountaineers somehow survived, 55-50, in a game featured:
a. Marist shooting 23.4 percent
b. Marist player Corielle Yarde going 1 for 13 from the floor
c. West Virginia’s Korinne Campbell going 1 for 10 from the floor
d. Marist hitting 1 of 16 3-point shots in the first half
e. The two teams combined for 21 assists and 27 turnovers
And that’s the highlights … only kidding.
“Obviously, it was not a shooting clinic by either team,” said losing coach Brian Giorgis.
While neither deserved it, this game had to have a winner and, as Carey would say, “I’d rather win ugly than lose.”
He did …. Barely.
Fortunately, only 1,030 fans came out to watch it played out, something that rankled Carey almost as much as his team’s play.
“I’m disappointed in the crowd,” Carey said. “We need to do a better job of promoting.”
And then he sprang a surprise on everyone, admitting that he has gone on the message boards and seen some posting, especially one that referred to his reference to needing to have bigger crowds.
“It said Mike Carey ought to get a life instead of worrying about the crowds. Well, basketball is my life. My job is to get a crowd in here,” he said, obviously irritated and having that playing on his mind for a while.
That his team came out for this game so flat absolutely stunned Carey. He said his practice the night before, after the men’s basketball game, was supposed to run through 9:30 but he cut it short at 8:30 because they were so energized, doing everything so well.
Then, come Monday’s shootaround, the energy was gone and he warned his team that it wasn’t ready to face a team that had won 29 games a year ago, had won the Metro Atlantic Conference title four straight years and had the league’s Player of the Year for two straight years.
It showed. West Virginia could do little right, but neither could Marist. In fact, with eight minutes to go the Mountaineers led by 41-39 when Liz Repella finally broke loose for a 3, that was followed by Vanessa House, who had a huge game off the bench with 13 points and some tough defense, stole an inbounds pass and raced in for a layup to give the Mountaineers a 7-point advantage that Marist could not overcome.
“We let their physicality get to us,” Giorgis said.
“The officials let them play and that’s not a good sign for us. We’re not a big strong team.”
The prize for winning?
A trip to Ohio State, the No. 3 team in the nation, on its home court.
If West Virginia plays anything like this, they ought to bring along a blindfold and a cigarette for the execution.
Surprisingly, Carey is looking forward to it.
“Playing Ohio State is something I wanted to do. It’s why we got into this tournament. We’ll see where we’re at,” he said. “If you want a story, come to practice after that.”
Carey believes his team will bounce back and play well. He is giving them off today to get their legs and energy back.
“I still think this is a good team,” Carey said. “Based on tonight, people are going to say ‘Get a life’ again.”
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
