WVU Women’s Basketball Blows Out UCF for First Big 12 Win

WVU Women’s Basketball won their Big 12 home opener in authoritative fashion, crushing UCF 80-58 behind an explosive first half performance.

The No. 18 Mountaineers (11-2, 1-1 Big 12) forced 20 turnovers and took control of the game with a 17-1 run over the last five minutes of the opening period that gave them a commanding 32-10 lead. Senior shooting guard JJ Quinerly went off for 17 points in the first ten minutes, nailing six of eight shots with her only misses coming from beyond the arc.

Even though her shot started to cool off later in the game, Quinerly went on to score 33 points with three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sydney Shaw dropped 19 points and led the Mountaineers with five made threes, while Jordan Harrison put up 12 points, six rebounds and six assists, doing a bit of everything despite landing in foul trouble early in the fourth period.

The Mountaineers kept the pressure on on the way into the half, with 16 of UCF’s 23 turnovers coming in the first 20 minutes. West Virginia led 50-16 at the break, then the Knights began to inch their way back in the second half to make the final score look more respectable.

Playing with a full lineup off the bench for much of the last five minutes of fourth quarter, the Mountaineers saw their efficiency drop tremendously, committing nine turnovers and converting one of seven shots: Quinerly’s three-ball with 5:20 to play was the last bucket the Mountaineers managed, pushing the lead to 79-47.

WVU Women’s Basketball will next take the court at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4 when they host the BYU Cougars at the Coliseum.