AP, PISCATAWAY, N.J: West Virginia coach Mike Carey might have to do some explaining to Big East Conference officials after yelling at a referee and criticizing her following a loss at Rutgers.
Carey stormed on the court Saturday after the No. 19 Mountaineers dropped a 67-58 decision to Rutgers and screamed at referee Angela Lewis for a couple of seconds. Lewis had handed Carey a technical foul in the waning seconds.
In the postgame news conference, Carey said some of the female official's calls — Lewis was the only female in the three-person crew — were "unbelievable."
The one that seemed to upset Carey the most was when Lewis overruled fellow official Ed Sidlasky with 3:47 to go and Rutgers ahead 54-53.
Sidlasky, who was positioned on the baseline, called a charging foul against Rutgers' Daisha Simmons on a baseline drive. Lewis, who was the outside official, overruled him and called a foul on Madina Ali, her fourth, sending Simmons to the line for two free throws.
"I can't talk about the referee," Carey said. "I would love to. The female, unbelievable, referee. I didn't say their names so maybe I won't get in trouble. Unbelievable. Unbelievable calls down the stretch. It's unbelievable."
Carey also was miffed his team didn't get any calls in the second half despite taking the ball to the basket. Rutgers had 21 free throws in the final 20 minutes. West Virginia got seven.
"We didn't even get to the one-and-one until under 30 seconds," Carey said. "Granted you have to attack the rim to get the one-and-one, but we were. We were getting banged driving and no calls, and they were getting those calls."
West Virginia (21-8, 7-8) has lost seven of nine games after starting the season 19-1. The Mountaineers, who will have to play a first-round game in the Big East tournament, will finish the regular season at home on Monday against St. John's.
