WVU Women’s Basketball Eager for Chance at Hosting in NCAA Tournament

WVU women’s basketball head coach Mark Kellogg has repeatedly stated his goal for this season: host a home regional in the NCAA Tournament. With an incredibly strong finish to the season, including a Big 12 title, that is certainly on the table for the Mountaineers.

While the selection show is on Sunday, the regional hosts will receive confirmation on Saturday without being told what seed they are. Kellogg believes WVU has done the work to earn a regional in Morgantown.

“I think it would be really hard after we just earned a championship with all the other metrics for us not to get to play here,” Kellogg said in a press conference Tuesday. “I’m not a part of that committee. I don’t know all the ins and outs of it. None of us do… I’ll be cautiously optimistic until we hear, I guess, on Saturday.”

On the other hand, senior guard Jordan Harrison has had the vision of playing postseason games in Hope Coliseum since Senior Day against Cincinnati on March 1. She said she remains confident in the idea of hosting.

“I definitely envisioned playing here. I think the Cincinnati post game I was saying like, I didn’t think this was gonna be our last game here,” Harrison said. “So yeah, I’m super excited. I mean, with our crowd and our energy, it’s gonna be real hard to another for another team to come and win two games here so we have a good chance.”

Senior guard Sydney Shaw offered her perspective on more games at home, highlighting the advantage of playing in front of Mountaineer fans.

“I think it’s really hard to play against us here in the Coliseum. I think we have a great crowd and great fans that support us and I would hate to be on the opposite end of that,” Shaw added.

Ultimately, Kellogg believes WVU has the resume, including winning 10 of its last 11 games, to have a top-four seed and a home regional.

“Here at the end of the year with a tournament title and you’re 27 and six with some of the net rankings and some of the other wins above bubble and all the other strength of schedule. I think we’ve put ourselves in a great position to, to have that,” Kellogg said.

For related content, WVU fans welcomed the Mountaineers home to honor them for winning the Big 12 title.

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