Women's Hoop Review IX

West Virginia 80 - North Alabama 51

Above: Esmery Martinez

Esmery Martinez got rebound after rebound after rebound, say rebound 18 more times and you'll get it right.

The 6-2 sophomore grabbed 22 boards, scored 17 points, blocked three shots, and stole the ball twice while leading West Virginia to a 3-0 start in a win over North Alabama (1-3). Martinez almost outrebounded North Alabama by herself as the Lions had 24 rebounds as a team. She did grab more offensive rebounds than North Alabama. Martinez had eight offensive boards compared to North Alabama's four.

In three games the Dominican forward is pacing West Virginia with an average of 12 rebounds per game. Last night's game was her second double-double of the season. She had 14 points and 15 rebounds in the season opener against Fresno State.

West Virginia was led in scoring once again by senior guard Kysre Gondrezick. She scored 20 points, shooting 8-12. She is shooting 58 percent this season while averaging 21.6 points per game. Against North Alabama, Gondrezick tallied a season best four assists and three steals. West Virginia was led in assists by junior Madisen Smith who posted eight dimes to go along with as many points scored.

North Alabama had a brief 12-8 lead over WVU in the first quarter. The Lions are the only team out of LSU and Fresno State as well to establish any kind of lead against West Virginia. The Mountaineers have won each of their games by 20 points or more.

Senior forward Olivia Noah led North Alabama with a game high 23 points. She only averaged 7.3 points in her team's first three games of the year. She shot 5-11 from three-point territory in a strong performance against WVU.

Indiana 71 - Samford 26

The 13th ranked Hoosiers from Indiana forced 26 turnovers and limited Samford to 20 percent shooting in a 45-point win.

Below: Grace Berger

Indiana dominated the game from start to finish. It took a 33-7 lead into the half, before outscoring Samford 18-10 in the third. Samford was held to less than 10 points in every other quarter of the game.

Believe it or not Samford did have a double digit scorer as guard Shauntai Battle posted 12 points on 5-10 shooting. The rest of her teammates shot a combined 5-43.

Below: Shauntai Battle

Indiana's defense was led by senior guard Ali Patberg who snatched five steals. She also had 12 points, shooting 5-8. Junior guard Grace Berger and sophomore Mackenzie Holmes led Indiana in scoring with 13 points each. Holmes and Aleksa Gulbe had two blocks apiece to share the lead in that category. Gulbe scored 11 points and snagged a game best nine rebounds.

North Florida 84 - Florida International 66

North Florida (1-3) dominated the second half outscoring Florida International (0-1) 46-29 after the half to earn its first win of the season.

Below: Marissa Mackins

The Ospreys got a combined 64 points from three players. Junior Marissa Mackins scored 23 points with eight assists. She shot 4-6 from three-point land and 7-12 overall. She bounced back from a 1-9 three-point shooting outing in the previous game, a loss against Florida Atlantic.

Below: Jazz Bond

Senior forward Jazz Bond was too much to deal with as she posted 21 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-4, frontcourt player also hit three-of-six three-point shots. Bond's performance was her second straight 20-point game. Senior Rhetta Moore scored 20 points with six rebounds and four assists. She shot 4-5 from three.

Above: Fujika Nimmo

Florida International trailed 38-37 at the half before everything fell apart. Along with shooting 33 percent (26 percent from three), FIU also had eight assists opposed to 21 turnovers. The Panthers were led in scoring by sophomore guard Fujika Nimmo and senior guard Jiselle Thomas who scored 14 points each. Nimmo also collected two blocks.

FIU got a strong performance off of the bench from senior forward Emerald Ekpiteta who posted 13 rebounds and eight points.