WVU Women’s Basketball

WVU Women’s Basketball Outlasts Wright State 77-72

Published

4 months ago

December 18, 2023

WVU Women’s Basketball survived a 77-72 fourth quarter thriller against the Wright State Raiders on Monday, powered by a 22-12 run across the final 7:35 of game time following an opportunistic timeout from head coach Mark Kellogg.

Mountaineers’ standout JJ Quinerly set a career high with 30 points, but she fouled out with four minutes to play after Wright State guard Alexis Hutchinson—who scored 37 points—drew a pair of fouls 16 seconds apart.

Hutchinson set the tone early, scoring 21 points in the first half and forcing the Mountaineers off their typical defensive gameplan as they tried to find a way to slow her down.

The two teams played to a 37-36 deadlock in the opening 20 minutes as Quinerly gave the Mountaineers the lead in the waning seconds of the half with two made free throws.

The defensive adjustment worked, as Hutchinson managed just four points in the third period, but Wright State’s secondary scorers picked up the slack as West Virginia’s attention turned to Hutchinson. The Raiders capitalized on the adjustment, building a five point lead—their largest of the game—early in the fourth quarter.

Mountaineers’ Last Minute Heroics

That queued a timeout from Kellogg, and television microphones managed to pick up the conversation he had with his players over the noise of a crowd of 8,000. Kellogg instructed his team to go back to their 2-2-1 press, forcing Hutchinson to beat them instead of allowing the rest of the Raiders more freedom to operate.

The adjustment brought Hutchinson back into the spotlight, and the Mountaineers’ hopes of winning looked dire as she forced Quinerly, West Virginia’s best player, out of a tied game. Hutchinson gave the Raiders a 69-67 lead after another foul, but the Mountaineers forced four turnovers as they pulled ahead 73-69.

Hutchinson wouldn’t go quietly, sinking a contested three over the outstretched arms of Lauren Fields to make it a one point game, but with less than 30 seconds to play the Raiders couldn’t get the ball back without fouling.

WVU Women’s Basketball moves to 10-0 on the season, and will host Niagara at 2 pm on Thursday, December 21.