After a heartbreaking 83-81 loss against Ohio State in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship, No. 21 WVU Women’s Basketball and Head Coach Mark Kellogg host Villanova University at Hope Coliseum on Monday Night.
Coming into the game, Villanova and Head Coach Denise Dillon sit at 5-2 and face a 6-1 Mountaineer team.
Dillon is entering her sixth season at her alma mater, and in her first five years, she’s led them to a 114-51 record, including a 63-26 mark in the Big East conference. Before she arrived at Villanova, she spent 17 seasons at Drexler University and posted a 329-204 record.
Her connection to Villanova is strong, since she played her college ball under Harry Perretta from 1993-96. She totaled 1,355 points and 377 rebounds, earning three All-Big East selections.
Guard Jasmine Bascoe will be the Mountaineers' biggest challenge on Monday night. Bascoe’s ability to score the ball at a high clip puts pressure on senior guards Sydney Woodley, Sydney Shaw, and Jordan Harrison, as well as redshirt junior Gia Cooke.
This season, Bascoe has averaged 16.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists. On Nov. 5 against Fairfield University, she scored 30 points and shot 12-of-25 from the field.
On the defensive end, WVU must watch out for guard Kennedy Henry. She leads her team in steals and blocks this season. So far, Kennedy has totaled 17 steals and 13 blocks.
For WVU, Cooke’s scoring will play a major factor to watch in the matchup. Since the Kent State matchup on Nov. 7, she’s scored in double-figures. In Nassau, Bahamas, she set a career-high of 24 points against McNeese State University and tied it in a close game against Ohio State.
Graduate student forward Kierra “Meme” Wheeler has contributed and been a great offseason addition. This season she’s averaged 12.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
In the recent showdown against Ohio State, she scored 19 points and shot 9-of-12.
Sports director Quinn Robie will have the play-by-play, and Matt Foley will provide color commentary at 7 p.m. RJ Rice, Logan Powell and Blake Fuchs will have pregame coverage at 6:30 p.m., along with halftime and postgame coverage.
The broadcast can be heard locally on 91.7 FM in Morgantown, online at U92TheMoose.com. On the TuneIn app and on Alexa-enabled devices.