Harrison, WVU Women Catch Fire to Blow Out Towson in Season Opener

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Sydney Shaw lit the spark and Jordan Harrison kept the flame alive as the WVU women’s basketball team blew out Towson, 85-41, to open the 2024-25 season inside the WVU Coliseum on Tuesday evening.

“I thought we got better as the game went,” WVU coach Mark Kellogg said. “The second quarter was a little bit better, the third quarter there were some good moments where we looked like ourselves.”

Back-to-back three-pointers by Shaw capped off a 13-0 run by WVU (1-0) in the second quarter that provided the first separation of the contest, 29-18. Shaw also started the run with a three-pointer as the Auburn transfer finished with 19 points.

“She can shoot it and she can get going, but that’s not just what she is,” Kellogg said. “We’ll keep challenging her to score at all levels and we’ll keep challenging her to defend and rebound, but I thought she was really good tonight.”

Towson (0-1) turned the ball over on four out of five possessions during that stretch as WVU’s disruptive defense picked up right where it ended last season. WVU forced 17 Towson turnovers in the first half and 32 overall.

With the Mountaineers leading 29-18, Harrison scored the team’s next nine points as the hosts went into halftime leading 38-25. 

“I knew once I started going a little bit my teammates would feed off my energy,” Harrison said. “I was just trying to get something going for us so we could catch our rhythm.”

Harrison’s end to the first half was key as star guard JJ Quinerly played less than 10 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. 

“She was the scoring in the second quarter,” Kellogg said. “I think we beat them by 12 in the second quarter and most of that was Jordan either scoring or facilitating.”

Harrison led all scorers with 23 points while also posting eight assists and five steals.

Despite picking up here third foul early on, Quinerly played the entire third quarter and came alive for the Mountaineers. The senior scored 10 of her 14 points in the frame and helped key a 19-2 scoring run that pushed the Mountaineers’ lead to 65-37 entering the fourth quarter.

Towson was held to just four points in the fourth quarter as West Virginia coasted to the 44-point victory.

WVU will host Niagara on Saturday at 2 p.m. and then welcome Pitt to the Coliseum for the Backyard Brawl next Tuesday at 7 p.m.

For a related story, the WVU men also won to start the season, beating Robert Morris on Monday.