DJ Thomas scored a game-high 25 points off the bench to lead West Virginia to an 81-59 win over Lafayette on Monday in Morgantown W. Va.
Honor Huff scored 24 points and connected on 8 of 9 3-point attempts for the Mountaineers (5-0).
Andrew Phillips led Lafayette with 19 points and Caleb Williams added 16 points for the Leopards (1-4).
West Virginia capitalized on Huff’s hot shooting from beyond the arc, along with the Mountaineers’ strong defense, to take control of the game. West Virginia forced 19 Lafayette turnovers, resulting in 20 points. Meanwhile, West Virginia committed 10 turnovers, which the Leopards converted into nine points.
A three-pointer from Ryan Pettit tied the game at 11-11 with 11:48 remaining in the first half. The teams played tightly until the Mountaineers went on a 7-0 run, capped by a Thomas layup, giving West Virginia a 20-13 lead with just under nine minutes left in the first half.
Harlan Obioha’s offensive rebound and putback gave the Mountaineers a 27-18 lead 5:43 before halftime. Moments later, Huff’s deep three gave West Virginia its first double-digit lead at 30-18 and prompted a Lafayette timeout.
The Leopards went nearly three minutes without a basket before Phillips hit a three to narrow the West Virginia lead to 30-21. In the final seconds of the first half, Huff’s long three-pointer gave West Virginia a 36-25 halftime lead.
Early in the second half, Huff nailed a fallaway three as the Mountaineers went up 43-29. Another three from Huff punctuated an 8-2 West Virginia run, increasing the Mountaineer lead to 48-31, and the Leopards called a timeout to regroup.
A Williams three sparked a 7-0 Lafayette rally as the Leopards tried to claw their way back into the game at 60-45. Moments later, a logo three from Williams cut the West Virginia lead to 62-48 with 6:44 to play.
The Leopards hit six straight shots to pull within 71-59, the closest they would get the rest of the way.
