Women’s head basketball coach Alexis Basil had one more chance to achieve a goal she had been promising for four years.
Since she joined the Mountaineers in 1997, Basil was trying to finish just once with a winning record.
But after the Mountaineers posted a 5-22 overall and failed to make it to the Big East tournament, Basil decided to resign. She ended her West Virginia career with a 33-77 record
The Mountaineers, who will be coached next year by Mike Carey, won their first two games of the season against Robert Morris (81-66) and Towson (81-65). West Virginia was only able to clinch three more victories in the remainder of the season: a 65-58 win over Pittsburgh, a 81-63 win over St. John’s and a 79-74 triumph past Providence.
Carey comes to West Virginia from Salem International University where he served as the men’s basketball coach for 13 seasons. This past season, the Tigers (26-7) were ranked as high as No. 4 and advanced to the NCAA east regional finals.
Leading the Mountaineers this past season, were guards Kate Bulger and Darya Kudryavtseva. Bulger averaged 14.4 points per game and had 93 rebounds in her first season at West Virginia. Senior Kudryavtseva finished with a team-high 63 steals, second in rebounds with 118 while averaging 13.7 points.
Senior forward Brandi Batch led the team in blocks with 24.
West Virginia was forced to wait for an invitation to the Big East tournament after losing its final game to Boston College 67-85. However, the Mountaineers failed to make the cut.