WVU Women’s Basketball Stifles Oklahoma State 72-40

WVU Women’s Basketball crushed Oklahoma State 72-40 on Saturday, Feb. 21, riding five Gia Cooke three-pointers and a Kierra “Meme” Wheeler double-double to victory.

The win pushes the No. 19 Mountaineers (22-6, 12-4 Big 12) into second place in the conference with two games remaining, half a game behind TCU. West Virginia wasted no time establishing themselves surging out to an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes behind three-pointers from Sydney Shaw and Cooke. Although they suffered a down night — per their lofty standards — forcing just 16 turnovers against 20 committed, the Mountaineers held the Cowgirls to just 15 of 65 shots made (5-of-26 from three). 

Three of those triples came in a span of three minutes as the Sooners threatened to build momentum at the end of the first quarter, trying to cut into a 20-6 lead. Cooke (21 points), Jordan Harrison and Riley Makalusky sank threes of their own to weather the storm. A 12-0 Mountaineers run to end the half pushed their lead to 49-23, Shaw sinking a three before the buzzer off a Harrison dish.

Oklahoma State bookended the half with more than nine minutes without a basket, making just two of 17 shots in the third quarter. The Mountaineers’ offense tailed off in the second half too, but with a 30-point cushion secured, it didn’t come close to mattering.

Up next, WVU Women’s Basketball will travel to face UCF at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25.