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WVU Release WVU Women's Basketball - Mountaineers Break Century Mark in 69 Point Win over Niagara

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Nov. 9, 2024) – The No. 16-ranked West Virginia University women's basketball team scored the third most points in a game in program history with a 110-41 win over Niagara on Saturday afternoon inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.



The points are the most in a game since WVU managed 114 against Robert Morris on Dec. 7, 2002. It is the second most points scored in a home game, trailing a 131-point performance against IUP on Dec. 7, 1982.


The Mountaineer defense led to its offense all afternoon. WVU pressured the Purple Eagles into 44 turnovers. The mark is the second most all-time by an opponent. West Virginia turned those miscues into 53 points. WVU recorded 22 steals in the game.



Junior guard Jordan Harrison collected her second straight 20-point scoring performance with 21 points. She added seven assists and three steals. Junior guard Sydney Shaw produced 20 points, hitting a career-high in point for the second time in as many games this season. She also grabbed four steals.



Freshman forward Jordan Thomas scored 14 points and corralled six boards, including five on the offensive glass. Fifth year forward Kylee Blacksten and senior guard JJ Quinerly each had 11 points to round out the Mountaineers in double figures. Quinerly added a game-high five steals and five assists as Blacksten finished with seven boards.



Senior guard Zya Nugent scored seven points and eight rebounds, Pushing her over the 1,000 career point mark.



The win is the 15th straight in the non-conference for the Mountaineers.



West Virginia fell behind 5-2 over the opening two minutes before a Shaw layup and the Mountaineers' first basket of the game spurred a 19-0 run over the next six minutes. WVU outpaced the Purple Eagles 25-4 over the final eight minutes of the quarter. The Mountaineer defense was relentless, forcing 14 Niagara turnovers and collecting seven steals.



Thomas opened the second frame scoring nine of the Mountaineers opening 11 points, pushing the WVU advantage to 38-9 with four minutes gone. Leading 41-12 a minute later, WVU ripped off another run, scoring 13 straight to the 1:50 mark. WVU ultimately took a 56-15 lead into halftime after only conceding six points.



The Mountaineers forced the Purple Eagles into 24 turnovers in the half and added 12 steals. Nearly half of West Virginia’s points came from NU turnovers at 24 points from the Niagara miscues.



The Mountaineers added 27 points in the third and fourth to outscore Niagara 54-26 over the final 20 minutes on the way to the second win of the season.



Also of note, the 69-point margin of victory is the highest during the Mark Kellogg era and just four points off a program record set during the 2011 season. The win marks the 30th straight non-conference regular season home win dating back to the 2018-19 season.



Next up, West Virginia takes on Pitt on Tuesday, Nov. 12, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. The Mountaineers and Panthers are set to renew the Backyard Brawl at 7 p.m. ET.
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WVU Release WVU Women's Basketball - Mountaineers Break Century Mark in 69 Point Win over Niagara

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Nov. 9, 2024) – The No. 16-ranked West Virginia University women's basketball team scored the third most points in a game in program history with a 110-41 win over Niagara on Saturday afternoon inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.



The points are the most in a game since WVU managed 114 against Robert Morris on Dec. 7, 2002. It is the second most points scored in a home game, trailing a 131-point performance against IUP on Dec. 7, 1982.


The Mountaineer defense led to its offense all afternoon. WVU pressured the Purple Eagles into 44 turnovers. The mark is the second most all-time by an opponent. West Virginia turned those miscues into 53 points. WVU recorded 22 steals in the game.



Junior guard Jordan Harrison collected her second straight 20-point scoring performance with 21 points. She added seven assists and three steals. Junior guard Sydney Shaw produced 20 points, hitting a career-high in point for the second time in as many games this season. She also grabbed four steals.



Freshman forward Jordan Thomas scored 14 points and corralled six boards, including five on the offensive glass. Fifth year forward Kylee Blacksten and senior guard JJ Quinerly each had 11 points to round out the Mountaineers in double figures. Quinerly added a game-high five steals and five assists as Blacksten finished with seven boards.



Senior guard Zya Nugent scored seven points and eight rebounds, Pushing her over the 1,000 career point mark.



The win is the 15th straight in the non-conference for the Mountaineers.



West Virginia fell behind 5-2 over the opening two minutes before a Shaw layup and the Mountaineers' first basket of the game spurred a 19-0 run over the next six minutes. WVU outpaced the Purple Eagles 25-4 over the final eight minutes of the quarter. The Mountaineer defense was relentless, forcing 14 Niagara turnovers and collecting seven steals.



Thomas opened the second frame scoring nine of the Mountaineers opening 11 points, pushing the WVU advantage to 38-9 with four minutes gone. Leading 41-12 a minute later, WVU ripped off another run, scoring 13 straight to the 1:50 mark. WVU ultimately took a 56-15 lead into halftime after only conceding six points.



The Mountaineers forced the Purple Eagles into 24 turnovers in the half and added 12 steals. Nearly half of West Virginia’s points came from NU turnovers at 24 points from the Niagara miscues.



The Mountaineers added 27 points in the third and fourth to outscore Niagara 54-26 over the final 20 minutes on the way to the second win of the season.



Also of note, the 69-point margin of victory is the highest during the Mark Kellogg era and just four points off a program record set during the 2011 season. The win marks the 30th straight non-conference regular season home win dating back to the 2018-19 season.



Next up, West Virginia takes on Pitt on Tuesday, Nov. 12, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. The Mountaineers and Panthers are set to renew the Backyard Brawl at 7 p.m. ET.

WVSPORTS.COM West Virginia head coach Neal Brown press conference summary

--The tale of the season is going to be November. He really appreciated the fans and you could hear Let's Go Mountaineers at the end of the game. The points off turnovers were the difference in the game. He was excited about the defensive guys and they got two defensive touchdowns. They've been close and had some drops and had the ball bounce the right way, but today it bounced the right way. If you do things right you're going to have good things happen and today it did. They were physical at the point of contact and they got pressure on the quarterback. The guys competed. Special teams has been good all year, the kickoff return and punt return have been good and Preston Fox was huge today. West Virginia dominated in the field position area. Offense wasn't good enough. And he's displeased about that, but anytime you go on the road and win it's a good thing. That's the worst offense they've played in two years and Cincinnati did some good things but they couldn't get out of their own way. West Virginia hasn't had a game yet where all three phases have played but if they do they can be one of the better teams in the league.

--Brown said he doesn't know if he's been in a game with this many pendulum swings. All that goes on it's 24-7 and should be a knock out punch but they didn't execute it well and they got it and hit a touchdown on the next play. They had an MA and the effort wasn't good. They get pressure again and ball bounces their way. Anytime you can get two turnovers and they turn into touchdowns it's a big thing. They are happy for the defensive guys and for them to come out and perform well.

--Anytime a quarterback has some turnovers back-to-back it causes them to struggle a little. Late in the game he got in the back end. West Virginia disguised better and played some man in some situational calls. They did a much better job getting lined up especially when the opponent is on a bye week. They felt comfortable with the plan at hand. Really happy with the defensive staff.

--Brown said a lot of times play calls in the game are overrated but he did a good job in the week of forming belief and creating buy in from the players. You have to create the buy in and Koonz did a great job with that. They have to want to play and compete for you. It's a staff wide plan and they made some adjustments and the kids went out and executed. Brown isn't surprised because Koonz has done this before and he understands the big picture. He handled it well and got into some good calls and yards didn't matter at the end and he had to fight the clock.

--Brown said he didn't feel a personality change, but they wanted to be more aggressive on third downs. They didn't add anything but brought some new things out.

--West Virginia was struggling throwing the ball and they were playing man and they weren't seeing it great so they wanted to use those go balls. Just trying to take the read stuff out of it and throw the ball down the field.

--Garrett Greene would be emergency quarterback but he wasn't cleared until late in the week. He was cleared he just didn't practice. They'll figure out the starter Sunday or Monday.

--Momentum in football is so finicky and they had a good open drive and got down to fourth and three but just missed the throw. They jump offsides on fourth and one and completed some third down plays. Momentum was not one their side but they got a big time stop on third down to make them snap it again. They showed pressure that they use at the goal line and Keke Tarnue came through and were able to capitalize on a mistake. They did a good job in the field position game and didn't screw it up. They played a man blitz on that fourth down.

WVSPORTS.COM West Virginia head coach Neal Brown press conference summary

--The tale of the season is going to be November. He really appreciated the fans and you could hear Let's Go Mountaineers at the end of the game. The points off turnovers were the difference in the game. He was excited about the defensive guys and they got two defensive touchdowns. They've been close and had some drops and had the ball bounce the right way, but today it bounced the right way. If you do things right you're going to have good things happen and today it did. They were physical at the point of contact and they got pressure on the quarterback. The guys competed. Special teams has been good all year, the kickoff return and punt return have been good and Preston Fox was huge today. West Virginia dominated in the field position area. Offense wasn't good enough. And he's displeased about that, but anytime you go on the road and win it's a good thing. That's the worst offense they've played in two years and Cincinnati did some good things but they couldn't get out of their own way. West Virginia hasn't had a game yet where all three phases have played but if they do they can be one of the better teams in the league.

--Brown said he doesn't know if he's been in a game with this many pendulum swings. All that goes on it's 24-7 and should be a knock out punch but they didn't execute it well and they got it and hit a touchdown on the next play. They had an MA and the effort wasn't good. They get pressure again and ball bounces their way. Anytime you can get two turnovers and they turn into touchdowns it's a big thing. They are happy for the defensive guys and for them to come out and perform well.

--Anytime a quarterback has some turnovers back-to-back it causes them to struggle a little. Late in the game he got in the back end. West Virginia disguised better and played some man in some situational calls. They did a much better job getting lined up especially when the opponent is on a bye week. They felt comfortable with the plan at hand. Really happy with the defensive staff.

--Brown said a lot of times play calls in the game are overrated but he did a good job in the week of forming belief and creating buy in from the players. You have to create the buy in and Koonz did a great job with that. They have to want to play and compete for you. It's a staff wide plan and they made some adjustments and the kids went out and executed. Brown isn't surprised because Koonz has done this before and he understands the big picture. He handled it well and got into some good calls and yards didn't matter at the end and he had to fight the clock.

--Brown said he didn't feel a personality change, but they wanted to be more aggressive on third downs. They didn't add anything but brought some new things out.

--West Virginia was struggling throwing the ball and they were playing man and they weren't seeing it great so they wanted to use those go balls. Just trying to take the read stuff out of it and throw the ball down the field.

--Garrett Greene would be emergency quarterback but he wasn't cleared until late in the week. He was cleared he just didn't practice. They'll figure out the starter Sunday or Monday.

--Momentum in football is so finicky and they had a good open drive and got down to fourth and three but just missed the throw. They jump offsides on fourth and one and completed some third down plays. Momentum was not one their side but they got a big time stop on third down to make them snap it again. They showed pressure that they use at the goal line and Keke Tarnue came through and were able to capitalize on a mistake. They did a good job in the field position game and didn't screw it up. They played a man blitz on that fourth down.
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