No. 11 West Virginia women top Butler 75-68 in Paradise Jam

Nov 23, 2017, 07:32 pm

MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Teana Muldrow had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Naomi Davenport added 16 points and 15 boards, and No. 11 West Virginia beat Butler 75-68 on Thursday in the relocated Paradise Jam.

West Virginia scored the opening 10 points of the game and held Butler to just seven points in the quarter. Davenport had a double-double in the first half with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Butler rallied in the second half to take a 66-65 lead with 2:17 remaining in the game, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Muldrow and Chania Ray gave the Mountaineers a five-point lead. Muldrow sealed it by making four straight free throws.

Ray also scored 16 points and had eight assists for West Virginia (4-0). Kristina King and Katrina Pardee each added 10 points as all five starters finished in double figures.

West Virginia will play Drexel on Friday and Virginia Tech on Saturday in the Island Division. The tournament was moved from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands due to damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Whitney Jennings made five 3-pointers and scored 24 points for Butler (3-2), which lost to No. 17 South Florida 71-55 Monday. Kristen Spolyar added 17 points and three 3-pointers as the Bulldogs were 9 of 17 from distance. Tori Schickel, who entered averaging 19 points per game with Jennings, had 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting and nine rebounds.