UNC’s Size Advantage is Nothing New for the WVU Women

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — It’s a new opponent, but a familiar problem for WVU women’s basketball against North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

As with all of their matchups, West Virginia (25-7) will be undersized compared to the Tar Heels (28-7) when the two tip off in the Round of 32 Monday at 7 p.m. (ESPN2).

“That’s every game,” WVU coach Mark Kellogg said Sunday afternoon. “We go into every game and we don’t have a size advantage. So that’s not new for us.”

UNC’s top three players are all at least six feet tall with Lexi Donarski (6-0), Alyss Ustby (6-1) and Maria Gakdeng (6-3). West Virginia, meanwhile, only starts one player that tall in center Kylee Blacksten (6-3).

“I think we just need to stay locked in,” WVU star JJ Quinerly said. “We’ve got to go out there and play our game. They do have some bigs, but we played against bigs in the Big 12 all the time. We’re still going to do what we can do, regardless of their bigs.”

Utsby and Gakdeng are UNC’s main post players. Gakdeng averages 11.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while Ustby, North Carolina’s all-time leading rebounder, averages 10.6 points and 9.5 rebounds.

“I’m not trying to downplay it because Gakdeng is having a really good year,” Kellogg said. “They have size, they have athleticism. Ustby is fantastic. She’s the heart and soul of that team from my vantage point.”

With how aggressive WVU’s defense plays on the perimeter and the size advantage UNC will have, Tar Heels coach Courtney Banghart thinks post play could be her team’s key to victory.

“If you’re going to be really aggressive in passing lanes, you’re not in gaps,” Banghart said.  “Those passing lanes into the post should be easier…They want to crowd the perimeter and make it really difficult. That means there’s going to be space in the interior, and so that’s kind of a little bit of the gamesmanship.”

In the post, WVU will counter with Blacksten and 6-3 freshman Jordan Thomas, who scored 10 points and had nine rebounds in her NCAA Tournament debut on Saturday.

“It’s every night,” Kellogg said. “Every night in the Big 12 we were smaller. People are bigger than us.”

The superior size in the Big 12 didn’t faze the Mountaineers as they went 13-5 in conference play this season, and they hope it won’t both them tomorrow either, as they try to advance to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history.

Stay tuned for WV Sports Now’s complete coverage of the WVU women’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament on location in Chapel Hill, N.C.