MORGANTOWN — Jasmine Carson’s trick to supplying instant offense off the bench is nothing too difficult.
The senior guard said she simply pays attention.
“The thing about coming off the bench is I can examine what’s working and what’s not working,” Carson said Thursday night after the Mountaineers rolled to a 113-33 exhibition victory over WVU Tech at the WVU Coliseum. “When I get into the game, I know what to do and what not to do.”
Carson, who finished with a game-high 25 points, came off the bench early when the Mountaineers had just three points over the first three minutes.
Her first 3-pointer gave WVU the lead. By the time the first quarter ended, Carson had 10 of the Mountaineers 19 points.
“I love when she’s open,” WVU head coach Mike Carey said. “She gives us that offensive threat off the bench and that’s something we need. I thought she’s doing a much better job defensively, too, which was good to see.”
The Mountaineers will enter the regular season in two weeks as the 19th-ranked team in the country and looked the part against the Golden Bears, a NAIA school located in Beckley.
WVU forced 46 turnovers and recorded 34 steals.
The Mountaineers finished with more field goals (44) than WVU Tech had attempts (33).
The turnovers came with constant man-to-man pressure that stretched over the length of the court.
WVU Tech struggled to pass the ball inbounds and when the Golden Bears did, the Mountaineers guards pressured them all over the court.
“I’m going to start getting them up and down,” Carey said. “When you’ve got all of them players; I told them not to trap, but we did a good job of guarding them full-court.”
With a roster of 15 scholarship players, Carey and WVU suddenly have the depth that was missing in recent seasons to experiment much on defense.
“We’re going to do it,” Carey said. “We’ve got to get better at the trap and we’ve got face guard and center fielders and stuff. We’ve got different looks this year.”
Carson’s spark off the bench ended the slow start and the Mountaineers began scoring at will off the turnovers and in the paint.
“My main thing is to try and bring defense first,” Carson said. “If my offense is on, it dictates my defense. That’s how I think I bring a spark to the team.”
Xavier transfer Ari Gray added 14 points off the bench, while Yemiyah Morris and Savannah Samuel each added 13.
Morris is a 6-foot-6 transfer from Mississippi State and Samuel is a transfer from Oregon State.
Freshman guard JJ Quinerly led the Mountaineers with eight steals.
“We’ve got a lot to work on,” Carey said. “I saw some good things. Isaw some things we really need to work on. We’ve got two weeks before our first game, so that’s great.”
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