MORGANTOWN — Five players scored in double figures as the No. 25 West Virginia women’s basketball team downed NJIT, 95-50, on Sunday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.
Senior guard Katrina Pardee led all players in scoring with 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Senior guard Tynice Martin added 18 points, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. Senior forward Naomi Davenport registered her seventh career double-double, finishing with 15 points and a team-best 13 boards. Freshman forward Kari Niblack had 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while Theresa Ekhelar finished the afternoon with a career-high 11 points.
“I thought, in the first half, there was good intensity on defense,” WVU head coach Mike Carey said. “Then, in the second half they got tired, and we let them do anything they wanted. I thought the first half had good intensity getting to the ball, that type of stuff. I thought we ran a couple good fast breaks, but we’re still not getting out on the break like we can. We have four guards playing, I mean, we have to be out on the break a lot quicker than what we’re getting out there.”
Freshman guard Madisen Smith notched six assists and six points to go along with five rebounds.
Ellyn Stoll led the Highlanders with 14 points as NJIT shot 34 percent from the field with 25 turnovers, three steals and a block. The Highlanders drop to 0-3 this season.
WVU finished 50.1 percent from the field and went 69.6 percent from the free throw line. As a team, WVU made seven 3-pointers and led in almost every statistical category, including having a 47-24 advantage in rebounds and a 16-3 edge in steals.
West Virginia caps its three-game homestand Thursday when the Mountaineers host Bryant at 10 a.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
