WVU Women’s Basketball Stays On Course in Big 12 Quarterfinals

WVU Women’s Basketball earned a 67-54 win in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Tournament on Friday, March 6, taking down No. 10 seed Arizona State and West Virginia native Marley Washenitz behind a strong second quarter.

The No. 15 ranked Mountaineers, who entered the conference tournament as the second overall seed, outscored the Sun Devils 21-13 on their way into the break. They forced seven turnovers in the frame (19 on the day) and scored 11 points in 87 seconds with a barrage of threes from Sydney Shaw (19 points) and Riley Makalusky. Gia Cooke (16 points) and Jordan Harrison (10 points) also finished in double figures.

Arizona State struck back in the third quarter, allowing just two West Virginia shots to fall in the first 8:38 of play and cutting the deficit to three points, but the Mountaineers’ offense woke up in the final two minutes of the frame, pushing their lead back to double digits with a 9-2 burst. Washenitz led the Sun Devils in scoring with 14 points and made four of eight shots; Arizona State converted on just 18 of 48 shots. While they made a respectable five of 14 three-point shots, that wasn’t anywhere close enough to even out West Virginia’s advantage.

That defensive effort helped the Mountaineers balance out their own cold stretches, including 10-of-31 shooting in the second half. West Virginia also displayed their clutch gene, however, making five of their last six shots to close the Sun Devils out. That run included threes from Cooke and Shaw, both off turnovers.

WVU Women’s Basketball advances to the Big 12 semifinals, where they’ll face either No. 3 seed Baylor or No. 6 seed Colorado. The Mountaineers will next take the court at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 7.