No. 17 West Virginia rolls Eastern Kentucky 67-42

Nov 15, 2014, 09:24 pm

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Bria Holmes scored 17 of her 23 points in the first half as No. 17 West Virginia raced to a 67-42 season-opening victory over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.

Holmes had six points as the Mountaineers closed the first half with a 14-0 run to take a 30-19 lead.

Linda Stepny added 13 points and Averee Fields 12, both hitting 5 of 7 shots; they had a combined seven points in the first half. Crystal Leary grabbed 11 rebounds.

West Virginia used a 9-0 surge to push the lead to 20 with 8:47 to play. The Mountaineers shot 52 percent in the second half, despite Holmes going 9 of 24, including 3 of 12 on 3-pointers.

Three players had eight points for Eastern Kentucky, which shot 27.5 percent, made just 9 of 19 free throws and had 19 turnovers.