WVU Women’s Basketball Forces 44 Turnovers, Crushes Niagara 110-41

WVU Women’s Basketball crushed the Niagara Purple Eagles 110-41 on Saturday, continuing their nonconference slate with another dominant all-around victory.

Jordan Harrison led the No. 16 Mountaineers with 21 points and seven assists, while Junior Sydney Shaw, a transfer from Auburn, also broke the 20-point barrier. Shaw set a new career high with 20 points.

Senior shooting guard JJ Quinerly, who entered the season on a number of national award watch lists, suffered a down night for the second game in a row, fouling out in just 20 minutes of play.

Niagara played the Mountaineers close for the first two minutes, taking a 5-2 lead after a three-point shot from Safiatu Kolliegbo. From that point, it was all West Virginia, as the Mountaineers closed the frame on a 25-4 run that saw Harrison and Shaw find a scoring groove, while West Virginia’s aggressive defense came out swinging, forcing 13 turnovers in the first period alone and a whopping 44 throughout the game.

The Mountaineers led 56-15 at halftime and maintained pressure on both sides of the court even as they began to empty their bench: all 14 players on West Virginia’s roster checked in at least once during the game, and the Mountaineers outscored Niagara 54-26 the rest of the way.

Notable downballot performances included true freshman Jordan Thomas, who netted 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, snagging six rebounds in just 12 minutes on the court.

WVU women’s basketball improves to 2-0 on the season, having outscored their opponents by an average of 56.5 points so far. Their busy November home schedule continues at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, when they host the Pittsburgh Panthers in the third of six straight home games.