To succeed in whatever type of madness in which you are embroiled during March, it’s generally accepted you need a few things.

1. Experience
2. Guards
3. Shooting
4. Defense

Well, get to know West Virginia’s women’s team, its seven seniors, its wise backcourt, its plethora of perimeter threats and its don’t-you-dare defense.

With Connecticut and Rutgers playing each other to finish their regular seasons, West Virginia can grab no worse than a tie for second place and match the most regular-season victories in school history by winning out — including matchups against Louisville and No. 24 Syracuse. The Mountaineers never have finished higher than fourth in Big East play.

“We bought into defense. If we can play great defense and we can rebound, we have an opportunity to win,” says coach Mike Carey, whose team is 3-4 when opponents shoot 40% or better. “We’re a blue-collar team. We don’t have All-Americans like these other teams. Our players have bought into working hard.”

The defense and the shooting may come and go and with a center as formidable as is Yinka Sanni, the guards can take a step back every now and then, too. Experience, though, is the key and remember that this team was more or less founded in the disappointment of the 2005-06 season.

Coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons, an NCAA Tournament appearance and a run to the WNIT final, the Mountaineers entered the 2005-06 season with high hopes. But injuries and an eight-game losing streak to close out the conference regular season dropped them out of postseason consideration and seemingly doomed them to a losing season at 12-15.

But seeded 12th in the Big East tournament and with nothing to play for, the Mountaineers held three consecutive favorites to fewer than 50 points en route to a championship game appearance opposite Connecticut. They came up just short of a miraculous NCAA Tournament bid — after pushing the Huskies in a 50-44 loss — but gained immeasurable experience.

“It gave them something to build on,” Carey said. “It gave us something to say, ‘Hey, you know what, we can compete with the best teams in the Big East.’ We were still a young team then, and I think it gave them a lot of confidence and made them work a little bit harder during the summer and a little harder during the fall. And it continued to go into the season.”