Stepney, Leary not done just yet

They are attached as if they were Siamese twins — former high school teammates, former AAU teammates, yes — but also former grade-school teammates, having played together since they were 11 years old.

In those early days, Stepney and Leary were part of a pressing, never-stop defense — but not the kind they’ve played at West Virginia under Mike Carey, who has a press as part of his repertoire, but who doesn’t use it as his base defense.

But now what else could he do but turn the press loose against a good ball-handling, solid shooting team and the season on the line?

Things looked bleak when Katherine Coyer dropped in two free throws to make it 62-58, but the ball came into Stepney’s hands and she took it down the floor, all the way to the basket and scored a layup with only 7 seconds having ticked off the clock.

Villanova had to inbound the ball, but there was the press and Stepney was there to steal the ball, with it then quickly arriving in Bria Holmes’ hands for a basket. WVU’s high scorer, Holmes had been having a dreadful time shooting up until crunch time when Leary grabbed a rebound and got the ball to Stepney, who fed Holmes for a layup.

Now, Holmes’ second layup in the final 43 seconds had tied the game at 62, and overtime became the order of the day.

That, however, would be simply a formality for while the game continued for five more minutes, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

“I said, ‘It’s our game now. They had a five-point lead and lost it,’” Carey recalled of his talk before the overtime tip. “The crowd was into it.”

So was his third senior to go with Stepney and Leary, Averee Fields, who would score the first six points of overtime before free-throw shooting by Stepney, Holmes and Bre McDonald would clinch it.

But this was a game for the girls from Norfolk, Va., teammates on a Lake Taylor High School team that went 30-1 and won the 2010 Virginia state title, being ranked No. 22 in the nation while winning seven games by more than 50 points, and then spending the off-seaons playing together on the Boo Williams AAU Elite team.

Stepney, of course, is well known to WVU fans and followers, the starting point guard for three years, a flashy ball handler who has often been reluctant to shoot, but never reluctant to pass to teammates.

But Leary, hers is a different tale, for she is one of those players who somehow jumps high but plays beneath the radar, coming off the bench, doing the little things, the dirty work — but always doing it well.

“She does all the little things,” Carey said. “She’ll go guard a 5 or a point guard, set a screen or hit the boards. I say if I was going to walk down a dark alley, I’d want her with me.”

In a way, they were walking down that dark alley in this one as Villanova matched them step for step before taking the late lead.

And, in the end, you had Holmes making a couple of key baskets, Stepney with a key basket, a steal and some late free throws and Fields rebounding and scoring in overtime to finish with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the 75-70 victory.

Leary? You hardly noticed, except that she didn’t miss a shot in the game, going 2 for 2 from the floor, 4 for 4 from the free throw line, grabbing 11 rebounds — eight of them offensive rebounds as WVU dominated on the boards, 47-34.

“Crystal was always the same player,” Stepney noted, talking of her as a high school player as well as collegiate. “She probably scored more in high school, but rebounding and running the floor, that’s the Crystal Leary I’ve known my whole life.”

Because of it, all of the Mountaineers are still alive in the WNIT and will play at least one more game.