No. 9 West Virginia knocks off South Florida
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sarah Miles and Liz Repella scored 16 points apiece and No. 9 West Virginia pulled away in the second half for a 78-52 win over South Florida on Saturday.
Madina Ali added 10 points for the Mountaineers (19-1, 5-1 Big East), who extended their school-record home winning streak to 30 games.
Andrea Smith scored 16 points and twin sister Andrell Smith added 12 for South Florida (9-11, 0-6). The Bulls lost their season-high seventh straight game.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}West Virginia, which set a school record for fewest points allowed in a 78-21 win over Marshall on Wednesday, needed some time to distance itself from the Bulls.
Miles' layup just before the halftime buzzer put the Mountaineers ahead 35-28. Three minutes into the second half, Miles scored six unanswered points to start the decisive 19-0 run that put West Virginia ahead 59-33 with 11:35 remaining.
West Virginia committed a season-high 24 turnovers but outrebounded South Florida 45-30 and shot 51 percent (27 of 53) from the floor.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}South Florida was limited to 28 percent (16 of 57) shooting.
West Virginia has won six of seven games all time against the Bulls. The Mountaineers now enter a tough stretch at No. 16 Georgetown and No. 13 DePaul.