WVU Women’s Basketball Survives Late BYU Rally

WVU Women’s Basketball defeated the BYU Cougars 76-69 on Saturday, surviving a second half rally thanks to a 21 point outburst from senior guard Lauren Fields.

The No. 23 Mountaineers forced a turnover on each of the Cougars’ first four possessions, prompting a quick timeout from BYU head coach Amber Whiting. West Virginia standout JJ Quinerly sank a three out of the timeout to push the lead to 7-0, but the Cougars managed to break the ice soon thereafter.

Quinerly left the game late in the first period with an apparent wrist injury, having already notched seven points and a steal in the first eight minutes. West Virginia led 22-9 at the time, but the Cougars managed to close the deficit to 26-19 in the five minutes Quinerly sat out.

Fields, who made eight of 11 shots from the field and four of six from three, sank three-pointers on consecutive possessions midway through the second period, helping the Mountaineers spark a 12-0 run.

Cougars Keep It Interesting

While the Mountaineers took a 43-29 lead into the half, the game was far from over against a dangerous Cougars team that took No. 4 Kansas State to the wire last week, though, the game was far from over. BYU stormed back in the third period, closing the deficit to four with less than a minute in the frame.

There, Fields made her presence known again, catching an assist off an offensive rebound from forward Danelle Arigbabu that set up a buzzer-beater three.

Once again, the Cougars weren’t ready to go away, cutting the deficit back to four midway through the final period with consecutive three-pointers from Amari Whiting and Emma Calvert.

West Virginia took command of the game with a 14-4 run, but the Cougars managed five points in the last minute to force a timeout from Mountaineers head coach Mark Kellogg. Jordan Harrison made a pair of free throws off the ensuing Cougars foul to put them away for good.

WVU Women’s Basketball moves to 19-2 on the season (8-2 Big 12). They’ll return home to host Texas Tech at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 6.