PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Dec. 15, 2024) – The No. 15-ranked West Virginia University women's basketball team finished off nonconference play with a 68-46 win over Temple on Sunday afternoon inside the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.
The Mountaineers overcame a sluggish start to collect its final win before opening conference play next week. WVU shot just 27.8 percent from the floor in the opening quarter before steadily improving its average in each of the following frames.
West Virginia finished the contest shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and limited Temple to a 24.2 percent mark. The Mountaineers coughed up more turnovers (18) than the Owls (17) while holding an 11-7 advantage in steals.
Senior guard Kyah Watson recorded her fifth career double-double for the Mountaineers after finishing with a game-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Celia Riviere had a career day, posting 12 points and eight rebounds to narrowly miss a double-double of her own.
Senior guard JJ Quinerly filled the stat sheet in her first game in two weeks. She finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Junior guard Jordan Harrison finished with 11 points and added seven assists and seven rebounds. With her assists the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma native has surpassed 400 in her career.
Junior guard Sydney Shaw was the final Mountaineer in double figures with 10 points and added a game-high four steals.
West Virginia and Temple played an even opening quarter as the two were tied at seven with four minutes gone. Quinerly and Harrison knocked down shots from beyond the arc to push the WVU in front and to a 13-9 advantage. The Mountaineers took a three-point, 16-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
WVU outscored the Owls, 8-2, to the media timeout in the second to increase its lead to 24-15 at the 5:52 mark. The Mountaineers held Temple to a 1 of 10 mark from the floor over the opening five minutes. West Virginia took a double-digit, 31-21, lead into halftime.
Both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm over the opening 20 minutes, combining for 23 turnovers. The Mountaineers were just 10 of 31 from the floor while the Owls hit just 8 of 33 of their attempts.
Quinerly took over early in the third, scoring five points, and added two steals and two assists over the opening two minutes. She had a hand in the Mountaineers opening nine points to push the WVU advantage to 40-24. Temple knocked down back-to-back threes to cut the lead back to 10 points two minutes later. WVU and Temple traded baskets before the Mountaineers closed out the frame with two threes, one from Watson and one from Harrison to take a 52-36 lead into the final 10 minutes.
West Virginia controlled the final frame, extending its lead to as many as 24 points at the 1:28 mark of the fourth. WVU outscored the Owls 16-10 in the fame on the way to a 22-point victory.
Next up, West Virginia stays the road for their first Big 12 Conference matchup of the season. The Mountaineers open conference play against Colorado in Boulder at the CU Events Center with tipoff set
