West Virginia women’s basketball will face Iowa State on Jerry West Day this Sunday afternoon. Head coach Mark Kellogg analyzed the Cyclones’ roster and shared his respect for head coach Bill Fennelly.
The Mountaineers are coming off of a redemption win against Colorado Wednesday evening. Scoring 39 points off of 30 turnovers, they hope to control their next matchup against talented players just the same.
“Excited for the opportunity this weekend,” Kellogg said.
The Mountaineers will have some players to watch out for on the court this weekend including Audi Crooks and Emily Ryan.
“Emily is a veteran; she’s been around, she keeps her cool, she’s very level headed…Audi’s probably the recipient of a lot of Emily Ryan passes if you were to break that down,” Kellogg said.
Crooks, arguably one of the best players in women’s college basketball, averages 20.5 points per game and has scored over 1,000 points in just two seasons. The sophomore is seen on a couple of watch lists such as the Naismith Trophy Watch List and Lisa Leslie Award Watch List and was named an AP Preseason All-American Honorable Mention and to the Athletic Preseason All-America Second Team.
Ryan, a talented passer, averages 6.6 assists a game with over 900 career assists, the most in Cyclone history. The senior was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team last season and is seen on the Naismith Trophy Watch List for three consecutive seasons.
“I think when you play teams like this there is some pick your poison approach to it. We don’t want to give up necessarily anything but what are you willing to maybe give up a hair or sacrifice,” Kellogg said on shutting down the talented pair.
Not only do the players impress viewers, but so does head coach Bill Fennely. Fennelly is in his 30th season with the Cyclones and holds an overall record of 624-319 with 22 NCAA appearances.
“What he’s done consistently makes it so special,” Kellogg said. “I think that’s one of the hardest things to do in college athletics is to do that (sustaining success) and he’s done it at such a high level for a long time.”
The Mountaineers now hold a record of 14-3 (4-2 in Big 12). Tip-off against Iowa State is set for 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
