No. 25 West Virginia looks to regroup against Oklahoma State

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Coming off two losses by a combined 64 points coupled with a struggling offense, West Virginia coach Mike Carey had another way to begin his press conference Tuesday.

“How’s the weather?” he asked jokingly.

Yet, Carey knows the struggles that have hit the 25th-ranked Mountaineers (13-3, 3-2 Big 12) are no laughing matter.

“We’ve got to get out of this funk we’re in,” Carey said. “I’ve had teams do this before. It’s nothing that a win won’t cure. We’ve had two games where we didn’t play hard and didn’t make shots and, quite frankly, doesn’t look like the same team we had before those two games.”

The Mountaineers will host Oklahoma State (11-6, 2-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Cowgirls have lost three of their last four games, including a 64-63 loss against Iowa State on Sunday, in which they went scoreless on their final three possessions.

“We can’t dwell on our setbacks,” Carey continued. “We’ve got to be focused on the next game. That’s the good thing about basketball, is there is another game in two or three days.”

West Virginia was never in the game against No. 2 Baylor, a 91-51 final. Outside of a low-scoring first quarter, Oklahoma dominated the Mountaineers over the final three quarters for a 24-point victory last week.

“This is definitely a game to bounce back from the two losses we had,” WVU guard Tynice Martin said. “It is what it is. Practice has been going great. They’ve been very intense. We can’t wait to get back on the court and prove what we need to prove.”

Martin, too, has something to prove.

The star senior guard combined to shoot 3 of 26 in those two losses.

“The last two games, I haven’t shot well,” Martin said. “Coach Carey and I had a talk. I have to do other things like get some rebounds or some steals and playing better defense. You can score in a lot of different ways. We have to get back on the fast break and get things going again.”

Carey said Martin has relied too much on her jump shot and would like to see her become more aggressive by driving to the basket.

“She’s been forcing it,” Carey said. “She’s got to let the game come to her. When you force stuff, it’s usually not a good shot and it usually starts a fast break at the other end.

“If somebody is overcrowding you on your shot, why are you not going around them? That’s something we’ve talked about.”

Getting around Oklahoma State defenders is only half the battle, because of OSU junior forward Natasha Mack will be waiting for drivers at the rim.

Mack is second in the Big 12 with 58 blocked shots, while also averaging 16.6 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.

“She’s one of the best athletes in the Big 12,” Carey said. “When your bigger teams have a great shot blocker, you can overplay and make mistakes and let people go backdoor and you’re still not going to score. She corrects a lot of mistakes.”

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