MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Jan 3, 2024) – The No. 24-ranked West Virginia University women's basketball team (13-0, 2-0 Big 12) defeated Cincinnati, 68-53, inside the WVU Coliseum on Wednesday night in Morgantown.
The win is the 13th straight to open the season which ties for the second-best start to a season in program history. The Mountaineers have hit the mark twice before, collecting 13 straight wins to open both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
The Mountaineers trailed just once in the contest, during the opening minute of play. West Virginia’s defense caused havoc for the Bearcats (8-5, 0-2 Big 12), who coughed up 24 turnovers as WVU recorded 16 steals. The turnovers forced marks the 12th time this season West Virginia has forced over 21 in a contest.
Cincinnati held a 38-30 advantage on the glass, including a 15-9 mark on the offensive end.
Redshirt junior guard Kyah Watson led West Virginia with 14 points, adding three steals and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Jordan Harrison finished her night with 13 points, a team-high five rebounds and four assists and added two steals.
Junior guard JJ Quinerly and fifth-year senior Lauren Fields each scored 12 points. Quinerly finished with four rebounds and two steals as Fields managed a game-high five steals. Quinerly’s 12 points mark the 40th time in her career she had notched double figures in a game.
As a team, WVU shot 41.1% (23-of-56) from the floor, despite a 25% (7-of-28) mark from 3-point range. The Bearcats hit 19-of-55 (34.5%) from the floor and made just 3-of-13 of its attempts from beyond the arc.
West Virginia added a 21-8 advantage in points off turnovers in the contest.
The Mountaineers won the opening tip and Quinerly quickly attacked the basket to score the game’s first points just seconds into the contest. Cincinnati responded with an and one at the other end to take their only lead of the game on its second possession.
Watson then scored eight straight points for the Mountaineers to push the WVU lead to 10-3. The Bearcats failed to score again for nearly seven minutes, as WVU led 12-5 with 1:08 to play. WVU managed a 14-7 lead at the end of 10 minutes.
Fields and fifth-year senior Jayla Hemingway knocked down back-to-back 3’s to open the second quarter, extending the Mountaineer lead out to 20-7. West Virginia connected on five threes in the frame, as Fields added another and Harrison tacked on two of her own. WVU shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the quarter, outscoring UC 22-12, to enter halftime with a 36-19 lead.
WVU struggled from the floor to open the third quarter, missing four straight shots from the field, but were a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe over the opening minutes. Quinerly knocked down WVU’s first field goal to give the Mountaineers a 42-23 lead at 6:23.
Despite the slow start to the half, West Virginia outpaced the Bearcats 19-17 over the 10 minutes in an evenly matched quarter.
The Bearcats outscored WVU, 17-13, for the first time in a quarter during the fourth frame but the Mountaineers had done enough to collect its ninth double-digit victory of the season.
With the win, West Virginia moves to 8-5 all-time against Cincinnati, including 5-3 in games played in Morgantown.
Next up, West Virginia welcomes its second ranked opponent of the season in No. 10 Texas to the WVU Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 6. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on Big12Now on ESPN+ and the Mountaineer Sports Network, including 100.9 WZST-FM.
The win is the 13th straight to open the season which ties for the second-best start to a season in program history. The Mountaineers have hit the mark twice before, collecting 13 straight wins to open both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
The Mountaineers trailed just once in the contest, during the opening minute of play. West Virginia’s defense caused havoc for the Bearcats (8-5, 0-2 Big 12), who coughed up 24 turnovers as WVU recorded 16 steals. The turnovers forced marks the 12th time this season West Virginia has forced over 21 in a contest.
Cincinnati held a 38-30 advantage on the glass, including a 15-9 mark on the offensive end.
Redshirt junior guard Kyah Watson led West Virginia with 14 points, adding three steals and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Jordan Harrison finished her night with 13 points, a team-high five rebounds and four assists and added two steals.
Junior guard JJ Quinerly and fifth-year senior Lauren Fields each scored 12 points. Quinerly finished with four rebounds and two steals as Fields managed a game-high five steals. Quinerly’s 12 points mark the 40th time in her career she had notched double figures in a game.
As a team, WVU shot 41.1% (23-of-56) from the floor, despite a 25% (7-of-28) mark from 3-point range. The Bearcats hit 19-of-55 (34.5%) from the floor and made just 3-of-13 of its attempts from beyond the arc.
West Virginia added a 21-8 advantage in points off turnovers in the contest.
The Mountaineers won the opening tip and Quinerly quickly attacked the basket to score the game’s first points just seconds into the contest. Cincinnati responded with an and one at the other end to take their only lead of the game on its second possession.
Watson then scored eight straight points for the Mountaineers to push the WVU lead to 10-3. The Bearcats failed to score again for nearly seven minutes, as WVU led 12-5 with 1:08 to play. WVU managed a 14-7 lead at the end of 10 minutes.
Fields and fifth-year senior Jayla Hemingway knocked down back-to-back 3’s to open the second quarter, extending the Mountaineer lead out to 20-7. West Virginia connected on five threes in the frame, as Fields added another and Harrison tacked on two of her own. WVU shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the quarter, outscoring UC 22-12, to enter halftime with a 36-19 lead.
WVU struggled from the floor to open the third quarter, missing four straight shots from the field, but were a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe over the opening minutes. Quinerly knocked down WVU’s first field goal to give the Mountaineers a 42-23 lead at 6:23.
Despite the slow start to the half, West Virginia outpaced the Bearcats 19-17 over the 10 minutes in an evenly matched quarter.
The Bearcats outscored WVU, 17-13, for the first time in a quarter during the fourth frame but the Mountaineers had done enough to collect its ninth double-digit victory of the season.
With the win, West Virginia moves to 8-5 all-time against Cincinnati, including 5-3 in games played in Morgantown.
Next up, West Virginia welcomes its second ranked opponent of the season in No. 10 Texas to the WVU Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 6. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on Big12Now on ESPN+ and the Mountaineer Sports Network, including 100.9 WZST-FM.
