Third Time the Charm for Big 12 Champion WVU Women’s Basketball

WVU Women’s Basketball suffered a regular season sweep at the hands of No. 10 TCU, losing at the buzzer in Morgantown and blowing a halftime lead in Fort Worth.

The No. 15 Mountaineers got the last laugh in the Big 12 Championship Game, winning their second-ever Big 12 title — and their first under head coach Mark Kellogg — 62-53 behind 21 points from Jordan Harrison and a blowout third quarter. West Virginia held the Horned Frogs to 20-of-60 shooting and an eight-of-31 clip from beyond the arc

West Virginia seemed prepared to pull away at several points in the first half, forcing an early Horned Frogs’ timeout after a Sydney Shaw (17 points) triple and a coast-to-coast steal and layup from Harrison put them in front 8-3.

TCU held them off the board for four and a half minutes at the end of the quarter, but Harrison managed to reestablish the lead with another layup off a turnover. TCU pulled ahead 23-19 in the second, scoring eight straight after a West Virginia cold spell, but the Mountaineers ended the half on a 7-0 run, using their press to force a backcourt violation that set up another three from Shaw.

West Virginia landed the knockout blow in the third quarter, holding the Horned Frogs to 4-of-16 shooting and pushing their lead to double digits. Unlike the first two matchups, TCU never managed a legitimate push, the Mountaineers managing to find an answer each time they threatened to start a run.

WVU Women’s Basketball punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with an automatic bid and has a strong chance to play host during the opening weekend. They’ll learn their seed at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 15.

Postgame Reaction: