Published: March 20, 2008 11:44 pm         

WVU women set for trip out West

MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia women’s basketball team isn’t going to allow having to play on New Mexico’s home court spoil its trip to the 2008 women’s NCAA basketball tournament.

“We’re going out there and make no excuses,” coach Mike Carey said Thursday before leaving with his squad for Albuquerque, N.M., where the fifth-seeded Mountaineers meet the 12th-seeded Lobos at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. ESPN2 will televise the action.

“Like I said before, we’ve got to play the game,” Carey said. “So we’re going to play on their home court and try to get a win. I talked to a reporter from out there (Wednesday) and he said they already had sold about 13,000 tickets.”

This will be only the fifth trip to the NCAA tournament for West Virginia, the third under Carey, and its all-time record is 3-4. The Mountaineers are 24-7 overall and ranked No. 17 in the nation. The Lobos have a 20-12 record, including a current six-game winning streak and a fifth Mountain West Conference championship in the last six years.

“They have some good athletes,” Carey said. “They have some role players. They play four out and spread you, and sometimes they’ll go out with five because the center shoots threes.

“So that would take Yinka (Sanni) and our other centers away from the rim a little bit, and that concerns me a little bit. They play some players that can go inside/out. They’re a good team. They play extremely hard and really play well at home.”

Carey thinks New Mexico is much like Louisville of the Big East Conference.

“But they’re athletic, spread you out and can be very aggressive. And they hit off the boards very hard.”

However, the Mountaineers have had a couple of days to prepare for the Lobos.

“I think our players know what to expect,” the veteran coach said. “I don’t think there will be any surprises.

“I’ve never been to the New Mexico gym (“The Pit”), but I’ve heard stories about the gym. It will a great experience. But we’ve played in some tough places before.”

The winner of Saturday’s game will play Monday against the victor of a contest between No. 4 Vanderbilt (23-8) and No. 13 Montana (25-6).