Big 12
JJ Quinerly Named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
JJ Quinerly earned major conference accolades on Tuesday, winning her second straight Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award.
The WVU star senior is the first Big 12 player to be named the league’s best defender in back-to-back seasons since Baylor’s Lauren Cox in 2018 and 2019. The shooting guard was also a unanimous selection for the All-Big 12 First Team and the All-Big 12 Defensive Team.
๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐#HailWV | @JJQUINERLY11 pic.twitter.com/W30Bsz5Xq4
— WVU Women's Basketball (@WVUWBB) March 4, 2025
Quinerly is second in the Big 12, averaging 3.1 steals per game while leading the Mountaineers to the league’s best scoring defense (54.5 points per game). The only player ahead of Quinerly in steals is her WVU teammate, Kyah Watson, who averages 3.3 per game.
WVU also leads the conference by a wide margin in forced turnovers (708) and steals (411).
Offensivley, Quinerly is third in the Big 12, scoring 20.5 points per game. She scored double-digit points in all 28 regular season games she played in, reaching 20 points 13 times and 30 points three times.
She saved her best for last, matching the WVU single-game scoring record with a career-best 38 points in the Mountaineers’ final home game against Utah. She followed that up with 31 points in the regular season finale at Cincinnati and was named the Big 12 Player of the Week.
Quinerly has more than left her mark over four years at West Virginia. Heading into this week’s conference tournament, she ranks fifth all-time in points scored (1,937) and third in steals (318).
In addition to Quinerly’s accolades, point guard Jordan Harrison was named All-Big 12 Third Team and Watson was named All-Big 12 honorable mention while also joining Quinerly on the All-Big 12 Defensive Team.
Harrison is averaging 13.4 points and 4.6 assists per game. Watson is averaging 6.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and a Big 12-best 3.3 steals per game.
JJ Quinerly and the Mountaineers earned the No. 4 seed and a double bye in the upcoming Big 12 tournament. WVU will play either UCF, BYU or Kansas State Friday at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinal round in Kansas City.
For a related story, WVU women rise 2 spots in AP Top 25.
