photo by: Ron Rittenhouse
WVU Sydney Shaw center getthe ball as Tatiana Thomas left and May Bibbitt of kent State guard.
MORGANTOWN — Sydney Shaw quickly threw three fingers into the air Friday night and then holstered them. As far as gunslinging goes, the senior from Miami made quick work of Kent State.
In 27 minutes of action, Shaw poured in a career-high 23 points, as West Virginia raced past the Golden Flashes, 88-47 inside the Hope Coliseum.
Shaw was 7 of 10 shooting and was a nearly perfect 5 of 6 from 3-point range, before settling down on the bench to watch most of the fourth quarter.
“She was good,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “I thought she had a really good week.”
Well, that was until sometime before the game when Shaw said she watched some video that apparently had something to do with liver damage of all things.
“I stopped drinking Red Bull, because I watched a scary video,” said Shaw, who broke her previous high of 22 points set last season against Kansas. “I drank a Sprite instead and told myself it was a Red Bull. That might have been it.”
Whatever it was, it worked. Shaw showed consistency throughout the game with two threes in the first quarter and 11 points at the half. She nailed another 3-pointer in the third quarter and drove to the basket for a couple of lay-ups.
By the time the fourth quarter began, Shaw had 20 points and WVU led, 64-32. She nailed one final 3-pointer early in the fourth and sat for the rest of the game.
Her plus-minus rating for the game was an amazing plus 43.
“That’s a good number, right?” joked Kellogg. “That’s about as good as it gets. She was efficient. She’s bought in defensively. She talks and communicates. She spent some extra time in the gym to hone in on a few things.”
The funny part to Shaw’s night is Kellogg thought the guard should have shot the ball more.
“I actually thought Sydney turned down a couple that I would have probably launched back in my career,” Kellogg said.
Shaw knew exactly what her coach was talking about.
“There was this one specific (play) where I thought, ‘I could shoot this,’” Shaw said. “When I got subbed out, my teammates kept asking me why I didn’t shoot it. There were definitely some of those moments out there.
The Mountaineers (2-0) won their 19th consecutive home game. The shot for an even 20 comes at 7 p.m Tuesday against Temple. It’s the second longest-home winning streak in the program’s history, but is still a far cry from the 31 WVU won from 2009-2011.
“We don’t even discuss it,” Kellogg said.
What was discussed is WVU saw five players score in double figures and Kellogg tweaked his starting lineup by putting in junior Gia Cooke for Sydney Woodley. Cooke finished with 12 points with eight coming in the fourth quarter.
Jordan Harrison added 13 points and five assists for the Mountaineers, while Kierra Wheeler had 17 and Riley Makalusky scored 12.
WVU forced 32 turnovers – it’s now forced 63 in the first two games – and recorded 16 steals. The rebounding was essentially even with WVU holding a slight 37-32 edge, but the Mountaineers scored 45 points off turnovers and 44 points in the paint.
“We were a little better tonight,” Kellogg said. “I thought we kind of controlled it. I thought we got better even as the game went on. The defensive identity was really good again.
“I thought we came out with a little more energy. I’d still like for us to make a few more shots. That’s kind of my gripe here early.”
Kent State (0-2) was held to just 32.7% shooting (16 of 49). The Golden Flashes were led by Mya Babbitt’s 13 points.