WVU Women’s Basketball Gets Back in Win Column at UCF

WVU Women’s Basketball put themselves back in the win column on Saturday, cruising to a 76-59 victory over the UCF Knights.

After trying 73 three-pointers across losses to Texas and Iowa State—and posting ugly success rates of 12.9 and 27.9 percent in those games—the No. 24 Mountaineers simplified their game plan, scoring 36 points in the paint and attempting just 17 threes, which they made at a healthy 41.2 percent clip. They also forced 26 turnovers, which turned into 28 points.

JJ Quinerly led the Mountaineers with 21 points, joining the 1,000 point club with a driving layup late in the fourth quarter.

Despite the comfortable victory margin, it took some time for the Mountaineers to settle in, with three ties and three lead changes in the first 14 minutes. From there it was off to the races: Kyah Watson hooked a shot in off an offensive rebound at 6:27 of the second period, and the Mountaineers never trailed again.

West Virginia picked up where they left off in the second half, opening with a 9-2 run and limiting UCF to just two made field goals in the third quarter, including just one in the last 7:27 of the period.

The Mountaineers’ aggressive second-half defense caught up to them eventually, as they were whistled for 15 fouls after halftime. Kylee Blacksten fouled out, while Quinerly, Fields and Jordan Harrison all ended the game with four. With West Virginia leading by 20 after three periods, though, the Knights didn’t have any time to mount a comeback.

WVU Women’s Basketball moves to 14-2 on the season (3-2 Big 12). They’ll head back to Morgantown to host Houston at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 17.