No. 24 WVU women’s basketball returns to The Greenbrier to play Northwestern with mostly new squad
Trending
MORGANTOWN -- A year ago, West Virginia women's basketball did the impossible at The Greenbrier in the southern part of the state. After multiple of the starters were ejected, the Mountaineers upset No. 15 Duke 57-49 with five players, meaning they played the entire second half without substituting. Guard Sydney Shaw had 16 points, while Célia Rivière came off the bench with 12. What made it even better was the nation was able to watch on being broadcasted on ESPNU.
Head coach Mark Kellogg won't ever forget that moment.
"I don't think I'll probably ever see that again in my coaching career," Kellogg said. "The response in the second half, obviously those ‘Greenbrier Five,' we’ll remember that. Some of the shots we made, the adjustments, all of it is not going to go anywhere. The celebration afterward in the locker room. Remember that vividly."
The win at The Greenbrier springboarded what ended up being a historic season. The Mountaineers won the Big 12 tournament and earned the opportunity to host an NCAA tournament regional for the first time in 1992. The Mountaineers didn't make it to the Sweet 16, but the atmosphere inside the Coliseum for that weekend was next to none.
"That team rallied around it," Kellogg said.
On Friday night, No. 24 WVU returns to The Greenbrier for the first time since that special game. The undefeated Mountaineers (3-0) play Northwestern (1-2) at 5:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
The Wildcats have had a rough start to the season, losing recently to UIC (University of Chicago in Illinois) 76-71. Despite the poor showing, Northwestern has some scorers. Boston College guard Lily Carmody leads the team with an average of 18 points per game.
Kellogg can reminisce on the great story down in southern West Virginia, but most of his current roster can't say the same. Only two players were on that team: guard Gia Cooke and Maddie Parrish. Cooke only played 15 minutes before she was ejected from the game. She contributed 12 points in the short amount of time. Parrish didn't play in the game.
"Something that was really cool," Kellogg said. "We have two players back. They were not on the floor in the second half, so they weren't really a part of the on-the-court piece of that. We're not really talking about it a whole lot with this team because it doesn't really impact what this team has going on right now."
There are parts of that game that can be shown to the new transfers that make up a large majority of this new roster. The facility inside the resort is much different than your average basketball arena. The locker room is a meeting room, the walk to the floor is through a kitchen and the crowd is much smaller.
There are adjustments the Mountaineers are prepared for now after playing there last year.
"It is different," Kellogg said. "The background, the backdrops, the low ceiling almost makes you hit the, I know they take the chandelier out, but I've been there with the chandelier, and there's not a lot of room up there."
Once the ball is tipped, it's just basketball, according to Kellogg. And that's how the team is looking at this game on Friday. It was really special last season, but this is pretty much a new team and a new opponent from what happened a year ago.
The team is looking forward to playing in the venue, but the focus is more on carrying momentum before heading to the Bahamas to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis, where the competition really ramps up. WVU is set to play Florida, who received votes in the AP Poll, and Notre Dame, who is No. 13.
Kellogg wants to see the defense improve, not giving up easy baskets, and move the ball around better on the offensive end. He also wants to put teams away when WVU has a lead, which it has the opportunity to do so against Northwestern.
"That's been the overarching theme for now," Kellogg said. "Defense, there are steps; offense has been a little better than my other three years this early."