AMES, Iowa — Senior forward Teana Muldrow and junior guard Naomi Davenport each netted a double-double as the
No. 17 WVU women’s basketball team took down Iowa State, 69-59, on Jan. 20, at the Hilton Coliseum.
Muldrow went 10 of 19 from the field for a game-high 27 points and added 11 rebounds in the win, claiming her league-leading 10th double-double of the season and 20th for her career. For Davenport, the performance of 10 points and 10 rebounds was enough for her fifth career double-double.
The Mountaineers never trailed in the Big 12 contest, helping the squad sweep the season series against the Cyclones and earn a win in Ames for the second time in three seasons.
“Lord knows, we needed a win,” head coach Mike Carey said. “It was good to get a win. Give Iowa State credit. They came back on us and we kept turning it over. We’ve lost a couple games down the stretch and it was the same thing. Turning the ball over, bad shots, not defending. We almost did it again but we were able to hit some foul shots down the stretch and win the game.”
The Mountaineers (16-4, 4-4) and the Cyclones (8-11, 2-6) traded buckets early in the first quarter before a trey from senior guard Chania Ray pushed WVU in front, 7-4. Ray added a jumper, then dished to Davenport for a layup that gave WVU an 11-6 lead with just over three to play in the first. Ray and Davenport teamed up again, as Ray scored the jumper off the steal by Davenport before junior guard Katrina Pardee nailed a triple for a 16-11 Mountaineers advantage at the end of the frame.
Davenport finished with six assists and three steals in the win.
Pardee opened the scoring in the second period with another trey, followed by a free throw and a fast break layup by senior forward Kristina King as the Mountaineers doubled up on the Cyclones, 22-11. Muldrow then scored nine straight for WVU, sinking a trey to put the lead at 31-18 midway through the period. Freshman guard Ashley Jones followed with a 3-pointer of her own before Muldrow added two more as the Mountaineers ended the first half with a 36-23 lead.
Muldrow scored WVU’s first six points of the third quarter for a 42-31 lead. Davenport made a 3-pointer, then added a free throw and a jumper as the Mountaineer lead stretched to 18 at 50-32. Muldrow converted a 3-point play, then drained a trey to make it a 21-point game with WVU ahead 56-35 with 2:49 to play in the third. The Cyclones countered with a triple of their own, but Muldrow hit the line for a pair to push West Virginia’s advantage back up to 20 at 58-38 with a minute to play in the frame. WVU eventually led 58-41 after three quarters.
However, Iowa State would not go down quietly on its home floor. After WVU received buckets by King and Davenport to start the fourth quarter and put the team up 62-45 with 8:25 to go, the Cyclones made their move to get back into the game.
Iowa State executed an 8-0 run at one point, cutting WVU’s lead to single digits at 62-53 with just under three minutes to play. Then, Ray hit three free throws to help the Mountaineers extend their lead to 12 again. The Mountaineers went without a made field goal for the final eight minutes of the game, which allowed Iowa State to get as close as seven with under a minute to go. From there, though, WVU was able to seal the road victory at the charity stripe.
WVU shot 24 of 52 (46.2 percent) as a team in the victory, including 7 of 19 from beyond the arc. The Mountaineers also won the rebounding category, 39-30, and forced 15 turnovers. Iowa State finished 21 of 58 (36.2 percent) from the field.
Along with Muldrow and Davenport, Ray finished with 14 points for WVU and added six assists. King chipped in with eight points while Pardee finished with seven.
The Cyclones were led by Emily Durr, who scored 15 points in the loss.
WVU returns home Jan. 24 when the Mountaineers battle Texas Tech, WVU Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
