The West Virginia women’s basketball opened the 2022-2023 season and Dawn Plitzuweit era with a dominating 81-31 win over the USC Upstate Spartans.
WVU had its way with USC Upstate defensively, as the Mountaineers forced 41 Spartan turnovers, leading to 48 points.
JJ Quinerly lead the way offensively for WVU with 19 points while shooting 9-for-15 from the field, and added three steals on the defensive side of the ball.
West Virginia got the game started fast with a perfectly designed play out of the gate to get South Dakota transfer Kyah Watson an open look from three-point range, which she knocked down.
The Mountaineers continued to establish dominance throughout the first quarter, as they forced 12 USC Upstate turnovers in the opening frame alone.
Outside of the services from Watson, the WVU veterans took over in the first 10 minutes of action, as Madisen Smith scored seven points, while JJ Quinerly netted five, and Jayla Hemingway scored two of her own.
After the first quarter, WVU lead the Spartans 19-4.
WVU kept the pressure on USC Upstate in the second quarter, as the defense forced another 12 Spartan turnovers before halftime.
Offensively, the Mountaineers got another five points from Hemingway and Smith in the second quarter, and Western Illinois transfer Danni Nichols added five points off the bench.
The Mountaineers outscored the Spartans 18-9 in the second quarter and took a 37-13 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, WVU kept its foot on the gas offensively, as the Mountaineers outscored the Spartans 23-9 in the period. Quinerly scored three buckets on four shots in the quarter to up her point total to 11 on the night, while Kylee Blacksten, Savannah Samuel, and Imarianah Russell all scored their first points of the game in the third quarter.
WVU lead USC Upstate 60-22 after three quarters, and the Mountaineers’ 23 points in the quarter bested the Spartans’ total for the game at that point.
Quinerly kept up her quick play in the fourth quarter, as the sophomore added eight more points while shooting 4-for-5 from the field in the period.
The Mountaineers as a whole scored 21 points in the fourth quarter while holding the Spartans to just nine points. The Mountaineers also forced another eight Spartan turnovers in the fourth quarter.
West Virginia went on to win the game by a score of 81-31, giving Dawn Plitzuweit a big win in her first game as a Mountaineer.
The West Virginia women will be back in action on Thursday, November 17th against Winthrop at 10 a.m.
