JJ Quinerly’s 18 Leads WVU Women’s Basketball to 70-55 Opening Round Victory Over Cincinnati

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The No. 6 seeded WVU women’s basketball team (23-6, 12-6 Big 12) were able to comfortably topple the No. 11 seeded Cincinnati Bearcats 70-55 behind a 17-0 run that blew things open early in the first quarter. Of the 17 points in that pivotal run, eight of them came off of Bearcat turnovers which was a recurring theme throughout the tilt.

Defensively, the Mountaineers were able to curtail Cincinnati’s possessions for a majority of the night, despite Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year JJ Quinerly playing through an injury with a brace on her left knee. Cincinatti had their first player to accumulate double-digit points with just 7:52 left in the game.

you're playing defense and see this… wyd? pic.twitter.com/tJ3vPYhOMR

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 9, 2024

Offensively, the Mountaineers came out firing on all cylinders shooting 63% from the field and 55.6% from three-point land in the first quarter, powering them to a 24-10 first quarter lead. To start the second half however, West Virginia went scoreless for the first 6:43 of the second half with the drought being mitigated by a Kyah Watson layup.

Watson shot 5-of-12 from the field on the night and 2-0f-5 from beyond the arc, and played a team-leading 36 minutes.

Quinerly played the whole night with somewhat reduced minutes due to her injury, still accruing 18 points shooting 7-of-12 from the field. Jayla Hemingway also brought a needed presence in the paint for the Mountaineers, putting up 13 points on 3-0f-5 shooting.

Lauren Fields put up a defensive clinic picking up six steals on the night, while Watson followed shortly behind with three of her own.

West Virginia swept the season series with the Bearcats, with the Mountaineers winning 68-53 and 72-43 respectively. The win elevates the Mountaineers to 10-5 all-time over Cincinatti, and 12-9 in the Big 12 tournament overall.

Overall, the Mountaineers shot 46.9% from the field and shot 17-of-21 from the charity stripe. The Mountaineers were out-rebounded by the Bearcats 33 to 26 but forced 20 turnovers to the Bearcats 14.

WVU Women’s Basketball will take on the No. 3 seeded Kansas State Wildcats tomorrow at 9 p.m on ESPN+, after falling to them in overtime in their only meeting this season 73-64.