WVU Women’s Basketball Earns AP Top 25 Spot After Duke Win

On the heels of their miraculous win at the Greenbrier, the WVU women’s basketball team is back ranked among the top teams in the country. West Virginia is now ranked at No. 23 in the Associated Press’ poll.

WVU joins four other Big 12 teams in the AP Top 25, giving the conference a total of five ranked teams.

Five Mountaineers etched their names into WVU women’s basketball history Friday night. With their backs against the wall and nobody on the bench, they topped No. 15 Duke 57-49, in the Greenbrier Tip-Off.

The remaining players after an on-court scuffle included senior guard Sydney Shaw, senior guard Sydney Woodley, senior forward Cece Riviere, junior guard Loghan Johnson and junior forward Riley Makalusky.

Head coach Mark Kellogg gave his perspective on the night, though he put it simply to start.

Mark Kellogg Proud of WVU Women’s Basketball for Resilience in Comeback Win Over Duke

“That’s the craziest game that I’ve ever been a part of in my coaching career without question,” Kellogg said.

All of WVU’s scoring from the first half was ejected as the Mountaineers trailed 23-20. A combined 37 points from the remaining five made the comeback possible.

“Those five, they gutted that thing out. I’ve never seen anything like it. We had, I don’t know, I think about two minutes to come up with a really, really quick game plan knowing we were gonna play the next 20 minutes with five,” Kellogg said.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the guts, the resiliency, the grit,” he added.

The Mountaineers are now 4-0 with a big upset win under their belt.

Now, WVU will prepare to play Appalachian State at 10:15 a.m. on Nov. 20 at the Hope Coliseum.

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