RENO, Nev. — West Virginia University’s women’s basketball team grinded out a 69-66 victory over Iowa in opening round action of the Nugget Classic at Lawlor Events Center Friday night.
Leading by three with 15 seconds left, Liz Repella blocked a Kamille Wahlin 3-point attempt as time expired.
Four Mountaineers reached double figures in the win, led by junior forward Korinne Campbell’s and freshman center Asya Bussie’s 15 points. Campbell also pulled down a game-best nine rebounds. Junior guard Liz Repella added 14 points and junior guard Sarah Miles had 10 points.
The contest featured five lead changes and three tied scores. West Virginia took its first lead of the game on a steal and layup from Sarah Miles at 8:24. WVU took a three point lead at 60-57 but a Kelly Krei 3-pointer tied it at 60. A House steal and layup re-gave WVU the lead with 6:20 left for good, at 62-60.
WVU had 44 points in the paint to Iowa’s 24, and shot a season-high 86.4 percent (19-22) from the foul line.
Iowa held a 36-30 advantage at halftime and ran its lead to nine in the second half before West Virginia started chipping away at the lead.
West Virginia is back in action tonight at 10 p.m. against host Nevada, which defeated Columbia 64-47 earlier in the day.
