WVU Women Down Columbia in Tournament Opener

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — For the second year in a row WVU women’s basketball beat a team from the Ivy League in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The sixth-seeded Mountaineers (25-7) downed 11-seed Columbia 78-59 Saturday afternoon in Carmichael Arena on the campus of North Carolina.

West Virginia hadn’t played since losing in the Big 12 tournament semifinal two weeks ago, but showed no rust from the layoff, coming out of the gates firing against the Lions. The Mountaineers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, starting a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor.

Columbia shot well to begin the game, starting 6-of-9, but WVU’s high-pressure defense caused more and more problems for the Ivy Leaguers as the game wore on. The Lions missed eight straight shots over a five-minute stretch between the first and second quarters. An eight-point run at the beginning of the second quarter pushed WVU’s lead up to 15 points, 32-17.

WVU’s Jordan Harrison made her first five attempts from the floor, while star senior JJ Quinerly started 4-for-4. The Mountaineers’ backcourt duo combined for 32 points in the first half, evenly splitting with 16 points apiece. The Mountaineers continued to apply pressure as Columbia kept turning the ball over, necessitating multiple timeouts to calm things down.

The Mountaineers stretched their second-quarter run out to 19-5, resulting in a 21-point lead with three minutes left before halftime. Columbia made three shots in the final two minutes, but West Virginia led 46-29 at the break.

Columbia came out of halftime hitting from three-point range, but it was all the Lions could do just to keep pace with the Mountaineers. Despite making four treys in the frame and only committing three turnovers, Columbia only decreased WVU’s lead by a single point, down to 18, going into the final frame.

A jumper from Quinerly with 2:18 left in the third pushed the WVU star over the 2,000 career point threshold and into a tie with Bria Holmes for third-place all-time in scoring for the Mountaineers. A three-pointer with 4:28 in the fourth gave Quinerly sole possession of third place. She is now chasing Rosemary Kosiorek in second place with 2,061 points.

Quinerly finished with a game-high 27 points to lead the Mountaineers. She also had seven assists and seven steals. Harrison was close behind with 23 points and six assists. Jordan Thomas had 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Cecelia Collins led Columbia with 16 points, followed by Riley Weiss with 14 and Kitty Henderson with 13.

The win was second-year head coach Mark Kellogg’s 50th with the Mountaineers. He is 50-15 overall since coming to Morgantown. This marks the first consecutive seasons with at least 25 wins in program history.

WVU advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and will face the winner of three-seed North Carolina and 11-seed Oregon State, played Saturday evening. The Mountaineers’ second-round game will be played on Monday on either ESPN or ESPN2 with the tipoff time to be determined.

Stay tuned for WV Sports Now’s complete coverage of the WVU women’s basketball team in the NCAA Tournament on location in Chapel Hill, N.C.