WVU Women Pleased with Tournament Seed, Destination

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A year ago, the WVU women’s basketball team felt they drew the short straw on their tournament seeding and location. This year, the Mountaineers like their draw much better.

“You just want to hear your name called and once you do, there’s excitement,” WVU coach Mark Kellogg said at WVU’s selection show watch party Sunday night. “Now we’ll start to piece it all together a little bit more.”

WVU (24-7) was selected as a No. 6 seed in the Birmingham Region and will play its first two rounds in Chapel Hill at host North Carolina.

“I’ve been telling everybody I thought we were a six, plus or minus a seed line,” Kellogg said. “If we had been a five, I wouldn’t have been shocked and if we had been a seven I probably wouldn’t have been shocked.”

Last year, the Mountaineers were chosen as an No. 8 seed and were sent to Iowa City for the first two rounds, having to face eventual national-runner up Iowa and two-time national player of the year Caitlyn Clark in the second round. 

This year, the Mountaineers feel much better both about their seeding and their destination.

“I think everybody wanted something a little more regional-based,” Kellogg said. “I know that the Charlotte area is a good alumni base, so hopefully we can draw off of that. And then for the local people in Morgantown, it’s very much driveable if they want to come check us out.”

For star senior JJ Quinerly, just getting into the tournament mattered more to her than what seed and where they would be playing.

“We’re just happy to be in it. We could’ve just not been in it at all,” Quinerly said. “Everything’s been up in the air the last couple of days so I was just looking forward to who we would be playing and what area we’d be in.

“I felt like we could’ve been a little better (seed), but at least we’re in it.”

Given their resume, there was little doubt the Mountaineers were going to earn an at-large bid to the tournament, but that doesn’t make watching the selection show any less stressful.

“It definitely gives me some anxiety waiting to see our name show up on the screen,” said senior Kyah Watson.

The only thing West Virginia doesn’t know right now is who exactly they will be playing in the first round. The Mountaineers will take on the winner of a play-in game between Columbia and Washington, scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. The winner will have a quick turnaround to face the Mountaineers Saturday at 2 p.m.

“It’s definitely different,” Watson said of having to wait on the play-in game. “I think our coaches will do a good job of getting us prepared.”

The winner of that game will advance to the second round to play the winner of North Carolina and Oregon State on Monday.

Quinerly and Watson are two of seven seniors on the WVU roster for whom this tournament will be their last ride as Mountaineers. Quinerly said playing the first two rounds in Chapel Hill, just three hours from her hometown of Norfolk, Va., will make it even more special.

“I think it’s going to be super special,” she said. It’s close to my hometown too so hopefully I’ll get some family there and some fans from here.”

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.