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No. 24 West Virginia Moves Past Rhode Island in Season Opener
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- No. 24 West Virginia Moves Past Rhode Island in Season Opener
West Virginia University guard Gia Cooke | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI
Morgantown, WV- The No. 24 West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0) held off the Rhode Island Rams (0-1) Tuesday night, 68-64, in the season opener.
West Virginia redshirt senior Gia Cooke led all scorers 28 points to with three assists and two steals, while senior Zahirah Walton finished with 12 points, two assists, and a pair of steals.
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Zahirah Walton delivered the first bucket of the season. The senior guard received the ball at the wing, drove to the basket, earned the bucket and the foul for the early 3-0 lead.
Rhode Island started the game efficiently on the offensive end of the floor. Behind good ball movement, the Rams opened the contest 8-13 from the, including a trio of threes within the final four field goals during the stretch for a 19-12 lead.
With under three minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Mountaineers began to chip away at the Rhode Island lead.
Gia Cooke ended the nearly four-minute Mountaineer scoring drought, hitting two of three from the free throw line to cut the deficit to four, and pulled WVU within three with a driving. However, Amori Jarrett buried the fourth three of the period for the Rams to extend the lead back to six.
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Cook, again, answered with a drive to the basket and an offense rebound from redshirt freshman Divine Tumba led to a pair of free throws to close the game to two, 24-22, heading into the second quarter.
The West Virginia defense clamped down in the second quarter and held Rhode Island to six points on 1-of-9 shooting from the field, while the Rams missed some opportunities at the free line, hitting just 50% (4-8).
With the defense ramped up, the Mountaineers found their footing on offense. Nylah Wilson led the way with five points. The sophomore evened the game at 24 with a lay-in and buried a three to provide a seven-point cushion with 1:28 left in the half.
Cook finished the quarter, driving the lane, drawing the foul and dropping he bucket for 16 first half points as the Mountaineers took 39-30 lead into halftime.
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A 6-2 spurt by the Mountaineers to open the second half, extended the lead to 14, but a pair of threes from junior guard Delani Hill kept the Rams within striking distance, 48-38, at the 6:03 mark of the third quarter.
West Virginia ended its six-minute scoring drought on the lay-in of Tumba to stretch the lead back to 12 as the Mountaineers held a 52-40 after three quarters of play.
West Virginia University guard Zahirah Walton | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI
The Mountaineers built their largest lead of 17 with 6:28 remaining in the game after a three from Cooke. However, led by Hill's six points during a three-minute stretch, propelling a Rhode Island 10-0 run to pull within seven.
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Cooke responded with a three to stretch the lead back to 10 with just over two minutes the play, but Hill buried a three with 1:11. Hill finished game with 26 points.
Rhode Island started sending the Mountaineers to the free throw line where they finished 3-of-4.
Rhode Island freshman guard Alex Newson hit a three with six second remaining to cut the WVU lead to four, but the Mountaineers outlasted the Rams for the 68-64.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/westvirginia as No. 24 West Virginia Moves Past Rhode Island in Season Opener .
