WVU Women’s Basketball Dismantles Houston in Big 12 Opener

WVU Women’s Basketball put on a show of pure domination in their Big 12 opener, destroying Houston 101-46 on Sunday, Dec. 21.

West Virginia (11-2, 1-0 Big 12) put on their best shooting performance of the season, making 36 of 70 shots and 11 of 23 threes. Sydney Shaw, who led the field with 22 points, sank five of those triples, while Riley Makalusky added five more off the bench. They also applied heavy pressure in the Cougars’ end of the court, forcing 36 turnovers that turned into 43 Mountaineers’ points.

The Mountaineers raced out of the gate with nine points in the first four minutes from senior guard Gia Cooke (17 points), taking a 27-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Starters Kierra Wheeler (12 points) and Jordan Harrison (11 points) also finished in double figures, and Jordan Thomas added ten more points off the bench.

Houston never had a prayer of cutting into West Virginia’s lead, facing a double digit deficit for the final 36 minutes of the game as the Mountaineers continued their onslaught even with 83 of 200 minutes played going to their bench.

WVU Women’s Basketball will return to action in the new year, facing Kansas (10-2) in Lawrence at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 1.