WVU Women Fall Short of Sweet 16 in Loss to North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL,  N.C. — The WVU women’s basketball team suffered a second-round NCAA Tournament exit for the second year in a row, losing 58-47 to North Carolina Monday evening.

Playing in UNC’s Carmichael Arena, the Mountaineers (25-8) played the Tar Heels (29-7) close for three quarters before fading in the final frame.

Just like in last year’s second-round tournament game at Iowa, West Virginia fell victim to a tight second-half whistle with multiple players battling foul trouble after halftime.

An inauspicious start for the Mountaineer saw the Tar Heels score the first six points of the game as WVU started just 1-of-6 from the floor. 

Things changed after the media timeout, however, as West Virginia’s press defense started to give UNC fits. The Tar Heels suddenly couldn’t hang onto the ball as West Virginia’s defense forced six turnovers over the final seven minutes of the opening frame. 

The Mountaineers were able to turn those into scoring opportunities in transition, taking the pressure off of their struggling half-court offense.

UNC led 12-4 before a layup by Sydney Shaw and a jumper from JJ Quinerly cut the lead in half. Four straight points from Jordan Thomas helped the Mountaineers close on an eight-point run with the game tied 12-12 going into the second quarter.

Get us going, JJQ 😤

📺 ESPN2 | @JJQUINERLY11 pic.twitter.com/IXbUGKhyeO

— WVU Women's Basketball (@WVUWBB) March 25, 2025

The second quarter saw the game morph into the kind of low-scoring affair expected between two stout defenses. 

Jordan Harrison opened the frame with a three-pointer to give WVU its first lead, but the Mountaineers didn’t make another basket for the next seven minutes. North Carolina, meanwhile, didn’t score for the first three minutes but used three quick makes to retake the lead, 19-16. 

A three-pointer by Lanie Grant and a layup from Alyssa Ustby put the hosts up six, 24-18, with under two minutes before halftime. The Mountaineers had missed nine of their last 10 shots, but Shaw was able to draw a foul and make three free throws with nine seconds left to make the score 24-21 at halftime.

West Virginia ran into foul trouble early in the third quarter as Quinerly picked up her second foul on a dead ball and immediately was whistled for her third on the inbounds and came out of the game. 

North Carolina led 32-25 when Quinerly exited, but WVU managed to put a run together even without its star, outsourcing the Tar Heels 10-1 over the next three minutes to lead by two, 35-33.

North Carolina had a response, however, scoring the next nine points to go back up by seven. WVU had a chance to cut further into the lead in the final seconds of the frame, but a blocked shot turned into a buzzer-beating layup for UNC as the Tar Heels went into the fourth quarter leading 45-38.

North Carolina scored the first four points of the fourth to push its lead to 49-38 as Kylee Blacksten fouled out for WVU. Thomas fouled out later in the quarter.

The Mountaineers struggled to score in the fourth, not making their first basket until there were less than 40 seconds left. North Carolina’s offense didn’t far much better, but the Tar Heels were able to maintain their double-digit lead and keep WVU at arm’s length.

Quinerly scored eight points in the final game of her brilliant Mountaineer career. Kyah Watson was stellar for WVU with nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Harrison finished with 10 points and Shaw had eight.

Nespor: There Won’t be Another JJ Quinerly at WVU Anytime Soon

As a team, West Virginia was just 13-of-54 (24.1%) from the floor and 2-of-21 (9.5%) from deep.

Alyssa Ustby paced North Carolina with 21 points while Lexi Donarski and Reniya Kelly scored 11 each. The Tar Heels advance to face rival Duke in the Sweet 16 next weekend in Birmingham, Ala.

WVU fell one game short of making the program’s second-ever Sweet 16 for the second season in a row.