WVU Women’s Basketball Falls Out of Final Regular Season AP Poll

WVU Women’s Basketball fell out of the final AP Top 25 poll of the 2023-24 regular season on Monday, as their three game losing skid became too much for the voters to forgive.

West Virginia stayed in the poll by the skin of their teeth last week, slipping to No. 24 after dropping consecutive one possession matchups to Baylor and Kansas State. The Mountaineers’ struggles continued to begin the final week of the regular season, though, as they suffered an ugly 68-61 loss at the hands of a bad Oklahoma State team to start the final week. West Virginia rebounded to defeat a depleted TCU team in the regular season finale, finishing the year at 23-6 (12-6 Big 12) but the damage had already been done in the eyes of the voters. The Mountaineers fell to the de facto No. 28 spot, receiving the third-most votes of any unranked team.

On to the Big 12 Tournament

The upset loss against the Sooners allowed Baylor and Iowa State to leapfrog the Mountaineers in the conference standings, preventing the team from receiving a two round bye in the conference tournament. As it stands now, the Mountaineers will sit out during the first round of the tournament before taking on the winner of Thursday night’s game between 12-16 UCF and 13-16 Cincinnati.

West Virginia should be a heavy favorite in that matchup, set for 9 p.m. Friday, although their success in the conference tournament could hinge on the health of star shooting guard JJ Quinerly, who exited during the third quarter of the TCU win after suffering a knee injury during an awkward collision. 

WVU Women’s Basketball head coach Mark Kellogg updated Quinerly’s status as day-to-day during a Monday press conference, and her resurgent health could go a long way toward powering the team in a Big 12—and likely NCAA—Tournament run.