It's just a basketball, right?
Photo Courtesy AP.
A little more than a week after the UConn women’s basketball team saw their NCAA record win streak end at Stanford, the No. 6 West Virginia University women’s basketball team saw their NCAA best 16 game win streak come to screeching halt at Big East foe Marquette. The Golden Eagles used an 11-0 run late in the second half and 18 points from Angel Robinson to pull off the home upset, 69-54.
Despite the Top 10 victory over West Virginia, Marquette lost something during the game as well. Marquette coach Terri Mitchell was struck in the head by a loose ball and was knocked back into her bench, forcing an assistant to take over the reigns. Mitchell stayed on the sidelines until the following media timeout when she left the court under her own power.
Marquette officials announced after the game that Mitchell was having trouble with dizziness (a good sign that the loose ball attack could have led to a concussion) but was in good health. Besides the surreal court side accident, there was nothing flukey about the Golden Eagles second half dominance, outscoring the Mountaineers 38-19.
Mountaineer coach Mike Carey would later comment “I never thought we would lose composure like we did,” and “this shouldn’t happen with five seniors; should not happen.” Clearly the Mountaineers head coach was a little disturbed by the way his experienced team performed late in the contest but his streaky squad was simply undone by better play.
Marquette (14-3, 2-2) is now enjoying a two game win streak against Top 25 competition as the Golden Eagles took down #18 Georgetown on January 8. The Mountaineers (16-1, 3-1) will have an opportunity to get back on track when they host #25 Syracuse this Saturday.
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