WVU Women’s Basketball Remains in AP Poll After Baylor Loss

WVU Women’s Basketball maintained a spot in the AP Top 25 poll released for the week of February 12, despite an ugly loss at Baylor on Saturday afternoon.

The Mountaineers fell two spots from last week’s ranking, now listed at No. 24 after a rough shooting performance sank their hopes of a marquee ranked win on the road.

The efficiency of head coach Mark Kellogg’s defense was on full display against the Bears, as West Virginia kept the score to 65-58 despite making just 32 percent of their shots: the game felt like it should’ve been a blowout, but the Mountaineers managed to hang on until the very end.

A dominant win over Texas Tech helped the Mountaineers stay in the top 50 nationally in a number of major statistical categories: at this point in the season, one bad game isn’t going to sink their averages.

Looking at the Mountaineers’ Numbers

• Turnovers Forced Per Game (24.39, good for No. 2 and the most of any major program)
• Winning Percentage (.70, tied for No. 16)
• Field Goal Percentage (46.23, No. 23)
• Assists Per Game (16, No. 49)
• Scoring Defense (56.4 points per game, No. 26)
• Scoring Offense (77.7 points per game, No. 25)
• Steals (14.3 per game, No. 1, led by junior JJ Quinerly’s 3.3 per game, the eighth-best individual mark in the country)
• Turnover Margin (9.35, No. 1 and 1.85 better than the next closest team)

WVU Women’s Basketball sits at 20-3 on the season, with their 9-3 conference record good for fourth in the Big 12. This week, they’ll play at TCU at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday before returning home for another ranked matchup, this one against the No. 23 Oklahoma Sooners at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Facing the Sooners gives West Virginia a chance to give their resume a massive boost. The Mountaineers’ lack of signature wins is part of what’s kept them on the fringe of the various Top 25 polls in spite of their excellent record.