Christhild blog

No. 9 West Virginia knocks off South Florida

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sarah Miles and Liz Repella scored 16 points apiece and No. 9 West Virginia pulled away in the second half for a 78-52 win over South Florida on Saturday.

Madina Ali added 10 points for the Mountaineers (19-1, 5-1 Big East), who extended their school-record home winning streak to 30 games.

Andrea Smith scored 16 points and twin sister Andrell Smith added 12 for South Florida (9-11, 0-6). The Bulls lost their season-high seventh straight game.

West Virginia, which set a school record for fewest points allowed in a 78-21 win over Marshall on Wednesday, needed some time to distance itself from the Bulls.

Miles' layup just before the halftime buzzer put the Mountaineers ahead 35-28. Three minutes into the second half, Miles scored six unanswered points to start the decisive 19-0 run that put West Virginia ahead 59-33 with 11:35 remaining.

West Virginia committed a season-high 24 turnovers but outrebounded South Florida 45-30 and shot 51 percent (27 of 53) from the floor.

South Florida was limited to 28 percent (16 of 57) shooting.

West Virginia has won six of seven games all time against the Bulls. The Mountaineers now enter a tough stretch at No. 16 Georgetown and No. 13 DePaul.