MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 2 seed West Virginia University women's basketball team advanced to the finals of the 2010 Big East Women's Basketball Championship by beating No. 6 seed Rutgers, 56-49, on Monday evening at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

"I thought Sarah Miles for the whole game did a great job for us. She was playing a speed higher than anybody else," coach Mike Carey said. "I also thought that Asya Bussie in the beginning, we were able to take the ball inside a little bit and get some scores there. In the end, I think when we were pressing, Sarah was breaking it and making things happen at the other end."

West Virginia (28-4) will now be playing in the finals of the tournament for only the second time in school history. The Mountaineers will be facing Connecticut, coincidentally, the team they faced in their first trip to the finals in 2006 as the No. 12 seed. The Mountaineers upset Louisville, St. John's and Rutgers before falling to the Huskies by a score of 50-44 that year.

In tonight's game, the Mountaineers used an unlikely offensive threat in the junior Miles, who finished with a game and season-high 18 points. The freshman Bussie scored 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field, while pulling down six rebounds and recording three blocks.

"A lot of people have to understand she was a 2-guard last year," Carey said of Miles. "To convert to the point and do the job she's doing this year is unbelievable, and we go as Sarah goes."

West Virginia finished the game shooting 36.4 percent, with Rutgers shooting 36.7 percent. The Mountaineers however held the Scarlet Knights to only 1-of-9 shooting from 3-point range and outrebounded Rutgers, 32-29.

Khadijah Rushdan led Rutgers with 12 points, while Monique Oliver finished with 11 points off the bench.

The game began as a back-and-forth battle, and with Rutgers leading 8-6 with 14:11 remaining, West Virginia went on an 11-2 run that peaked with the score reaching 21-10 in favor of WVU. The Mountaineers used five points from Miles, including a rare 3-pointer, during the run and performed stellar defense.

The Scarlet Knights' Brittany Ray then drained a 3-pointer with 6:12 remaining to end the run and Rutgers began to go on an 11-0 run that tied the score, 21-21. That run saw a five minute scoring drought by West Virginia that was ended with two made free throws from junior Madina Ali after a fantastic hustle play on which she drew the foul. Junior Liz Repella then hit her first field goal of the half after missing her first four to put WVU up 25-21 with only 17 seconds remaining.

Rutgers, however, rushed down the floor with 11 seconds remaining and used a Oliver layup to bring the game within two. Nikki Speed then hit a jumper with five seconds left after a bad inbound pass by Ali to tie the game at 25-25 going into the break.

"We got lackadaisical. We didn't rotate back," Carey said. "Sarah penetrated, and our two-guard didn't rotate and gave up a layup and then take it back and get lackadaisical and a girl up front gets a layup. We addressed those two plays at halftime."

Ali and Bussie led the Mountaineers with six points apiece at the break, while Oliver led Rutgers with six. The Mountaineers were held to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor, but were able to convert 8-of-9 free throws.

The second half began similar to the first half with both teams converting on scoring opportunities before West Virginia was able to go on 9-0 run starting with a 3-pointer from junior Vanessa House with 16:54 remaining. Junior Korrine Campbell scored four points, followed by a layup from Miles to finish the run before Rutgers called a timeout with WVU ahead, 38-31.

"When we made that 9-0 run in the second half, we made some adjustments and that's why Sarah was freed up so much," Carey said. "We just stuck our people that had the triangle on them out and let them play three-on-three and isolate down low and let Sarah have driving lanes instead of getting them involved in the offense at that time."

West Virginia continued to extend their lead with Repella hitting her first 3-pointer of the game with 10:01 remaining. Sophomore Natalie Burton came off the bench and provided some big minutes and hit a layup with 6:28 left to bring West Virginia to its biggest lead of the game, 52-40. Rutgers was never able to regain momentum and the Mountaineers hit 4-of-7 free throws in the final 2:16 to seal the victory.

Tomorrow night's game against UConn will tip at 7 p.m. and be televised on ESPN. No. 1 seed UConn won their 71st consecutive game in a 59-44 win over the No. 5 seed Notre Dame earlier this evening. The streak is a NCAA record.

I win that game, I'm retiring," Carey joked. "They're a great team. Geno (Auriemma) does a great job, and they're deserving of everything they get, believe me. It's extremely hard, even though you have all that talent, to come out and take everybody's best shot night in and night out, and they do a great job at it."

	Posted by Cliff Burton on 3/08/10 at 11:07 PM Fantastic effort from the Moutaineers team and staff. Now to break that UConn record. Its going to be broken sometime and that time might as well be now. Believe in yourselves girls cause we all do. From all of Nats fans in Australia GO THE MOUNTAINEERS !!!!
	Posted by Mounty 70 on 3/08/10 at 11:23 PM Great job Mike Carey...great job Lady Mountaineers...best of luck against UConn.
	Posted by WV Fan In VA on 3/08/10 at 11:44 PM This was a tough win Lady Mountaineers. Much needed help provided tonight by Natalie, Asya and Sarah. Need to play a more deliberate game against Uconn and cut down on those turnovers. Need to be more focused with your passing game. Don't let them beat you down the floor on break-outs. We need to put pressure on the basket. You must get them into foul trouble to improve you chances. They are not deep on the bench. We will be watching on ESPN with many thousand MOUNTAINEER FANS. Go get the Huskies!
	Posted by Dave on 3/08/10 at 11:52 PM Congrats on the win tonight. Let's beat Uconn tomorrow night and bring home the BigEast championship. I know you can do it. LET'S GO MOUNTAINEERS!!
	Posted by Jennings Roberts on 3/09/10 at 12:31 AM Wow!!! What a win that will be for the Mountaineers!!! They're gonna shock the world!!!!!!!!!!!!
	Posted by ds on 3/09/10 at 4:59 AM good job girls...now keep it up with confidence and desire...good luck against the Huskies and Lets Go Mountaineers !!!
	Posted by WV Fan on 3/09/10 at 5:50 AM Great job from the team and coaching staff. Great adjustment at half time. Natalie did excellent job coming off bench, and Sarah is our leader on the floor. Liz and Korinne keep shoting basket will start to fall. Vance very stead of bench and Madina is a presents inside and outside. Need to make layups tonight. Good lick against UConn we can win if we play as a team
	Posted by David in Charlotte on 3/09/10 at 7:25 AM Very impressive effort....You cut down on the turnovers and work to get shots then your defense will carry you.....go get them tonight and in the tournament
	Posted by Seth on 3/09/10 at 7:29 AM END UCONNS 71 GAME WIN STREAK MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!!! THE PUBLICITY FOR WVU WOULD BE AMAZING.LETS GOOOOOOOOO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
	Posted by dutchman on 3/09/10 at 11:44 AM Great game Lady 'eers!! Fun to watch! Sarah is amazing!! Concentrate on being the best you can possibly be, make it happen, and you can beat UConn! You can do it! We are all behind you!!
	Posted by MtnFan on 3/09/10 at 11:54 AM Get after those Huskies!!
	Posted by House on 3/09/10 at 12:18 PM To all the girls great job. To the coaching staff it was worth it all. We are all excited here in FRESNO, CALIFORNIA home of Vanessa House. Have a GREAT COME OUT AND WIN game against UConn. Lets goooooooooo Mountaineers!!!!!!
	Posted by nj moutaineer on 3/09/10 at 12:39 PM Great game ladies! Now let's bring home the championship!! Let's Go Mountaineers!

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