WVU Women’s Basketball Comeback Attempt Falls Short in NCAAT Loss to Kentucky

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 4 seed WVU women’s basketball team came up short after coming back from down 12 points in the fourth quarter in the round of 32, falling 74-73 to No. 5 Kentucky at Hope Coliseum Monday.

Redshirt junior guard Gia Cooke made a three from the right wing to kick off scoring on the day, but Kentucky responded with a three from freshman forward Amelia Hassett. WVU senior guard Sydney Shaw brought the Hope Coliseum crowd to its feet with an and-one three on the next possession and completed the four-point play for a 7-3 WVU lead.

An 11-0 Kentucky run ensued over the next three minutes before graduate forward Meme Wheeler made a layup to cut the UK lead to 14-9. Wheeler’s make helped spur on an 8-1 WVU run that brought the score within a point. Kentucky still found room and took a 20-15 lead to the second quarter.

Kentucky opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run with six straight points from the foul line. WVU trailed by as many as 11 in the second quarter at 28-17.

The Mountaineer offense and defense heated up with a 13-2 run to tie it at 30-30 with 3:35 left in the half. Shaw scored the last five points on the run with a three and a transition layup after a steal.

The Wildcats and Mountaineers traded blows to end the half as WVU lever led in the second quarter, but knotted the game at 36-36 heading into halftime.

Head coach mark Kellogg called a quick timeout to start the second half after a seven-point swing from Kentucky made it 43-36 at just the 8:09 mark in the third.

WVU didn’t get on the board in the third quarter until the 6:18 mark with a layup from Cooke. Shaw cut into the lead with a three-pointer to make it 49-41.

The Mountaineers were outscored 26-14 in the third quarter, putting them down 62-50 entering the fourth.

Wheeler gave WVU a quick two with a layup to start the fourth right before the Mountaineers forced a traveling violation. Shaw added another three-pointer, making the score 62-55.

Kentucky found a lane for a layup, but Shaw drilled another three in response. Senior guard Jordan Harrison took off in transition a play later, making a layup for a score of 64-60.

WVU hit a dry spell, as Kellogg called another timeout with WVU trailing 68-60 with 5:01 remaining.

Cooke nailed a three right out of the timeout, cutting the UK lead to five. Shaw helped WVU close the gap further with a corner three for a 72-69 score with 2:31 remaining.

Harrison added two free throws after a steal to make it just a one-point game.

Senior guard Tonie Morgan extended the lead to three with an elbow jumper and Cooke drew a foul on the other end. She went 2-2 from the line with 33 seconds remaining.

The Mountaineers had the ball with seven seconds to go.

Cooke took the inbounds and shook her defender, getting an open look from the left elbow. However, her shot rattled out and Kentucky grabbed the rebound.

WVU had one final chance, as an inbound pass went off the leg of a UK player out of points with 0.2 seconds remaining. There wasn’t enough time to get a shot off, so the final score was 74-73 UK.

Find more coverage of the WVU women’s basketball program at WV Sports Now.