WVU Women’s Basketball Earns Senior Day Win Over TCU

WVU Women’s Basketball closed out their regular season in style on Saturday afternoon, snapping their three game losing streak and beating the TCU Horned Frogs 57-49 in front of the Senior Day home crowd. 

The No. 24 Mountaineers built a 20 point lead in the first half after forcing a scoreless stretch that lasted more than 11 minutes, then managed to ride that advantage to victory despite letting the Horned Frogs inch their way back into the game after star guard JJ Quinerly went down with an apparent leg injury.

WVU opened the game on a 6-0 streak, then the Horned Frogs took a brief lead after erupting for seven points in 75 seconds. Jordan Harrison made a three—set up with a steal from Tavy Diggs and a Lauren Fields’ assist—to put West Virginia ahead again, and the Mountaineers never looked back, shutting down the Horned Frogs offense for more than a quarter. 

By the time TCU forward Sedona Prince managed to break the scoring drought with less than five minutes remaining in the first half, West Virginia led by 17 thanks to a 20-0 run.

West Virginia’s offense wasn’t particularly efficient in the game, making just 5 of 19 three point attempts and 37.7 percent of shots overall, and those shooting struggled reared their head in the second half, especially after Quinerly went down early in the third quarter. TCU held the Mountaineers to just five points for nine minutes of the fourth quarter, allowing them to close the deficit to 48-38 after a lengthy scoring drought.

West Virginia survived the scare, though, riding the cushion they created in the first half to a comfortable victory.

Postseason Implications

WVU Women’s Basketball finishes the regular season with a 23-6 record (12-6 Big 12). Now, they’ll wait and watch to see if Cincinnati and Oklahoma State can pull off upset wins over Iowa State and Baylor in order to give the Mountaineers a double bye in the first two rounds of the Big 12 tournament, which is set to begin at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Thursday, March 7.

Following their win, the Mountaineers sit a half game above Baylor and ISU, but the two teams have a game in hand over West Virginia. Baylor swept the season series with the Mountaineers, while Iowa State logged a +4 point differential in their series split, giving them the advantage on tiebreakers.