West Virginia (4-1), suffered their first loss of the season in the second game of the Cancun Challenge to No. 13 NC State, 78-40 on Friday night at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Cancun.
West Virginia was held to just 15-66 (22%) shooting from the floor, and 3-29 (10.3%) from three-point range. The Wolfpack out-rebounded West Virginia by 26, with 57 to 31 advantage on the glass, including a 15-10 offensive rebounding advantage. West Virginia never held a lead in the game.
Sophomore guard Ja’Naiya Quinerly led the Mountaineers with 16 points on 8-16 shooting, as well as having the Mountaineers only assist of the entire game. 5th year senior Madisen Smith was the only other Mountaineer to score in double-digits, recording 11 points on 4-16 shooting, and 3-9 from three.
The 78 points West Virginia gave up was the most they’ve conceded all season, with the previous high being 51 points against Appalachian State. The 40 points the Mountaineers scored was also a season-low, with their previous low coming against Central Michigan where they scored 64 points.
NC State started the game on an 8-0 run, which prompted a WVU timeout, and the Mountaineers were able to score the next 3 points on a free throw and layup, as well as get a couple stops in a row. West Virginia cut the lead to 4, with 2 minutes to go in the first quarter on a Ja’Naiya Quinerly layup to make the score 14-10.
The Mountaineers were down by seven after the first quarter, 19-12, when NC State took control of the game, winning the second quarter 24-6 to take a 25 point lead into halftime. The quarter included a 13-1 run by the Wolfpack over 4 minutes of the quarter, where the Mountaineers only point came off of a Kylee Blackstein free throw.
West Virginia would go on a 14-8 run to start the third quarter, to cut the lead to 19, which would be the smallest deficit they would face the rest of the game, as NC State responded with a 10-2 run of their own over the rest of the quarter.
West Virginia entered the fourth quarter down 61-34, and started the quarter on a 4-0 run led by jump shots by Ja’Naiya Quinerly and Madisen Smith. NC State would not allow themselves to crumble in the final frame though, ending the game on a 17-2 run to grab their largest lead of the game with the final score being 78-40.
Photo by Aaron Parker
