It had been almost a month since West Virginia women’s basketball found themselves in a close game late.
On Monday, as the Mountaineers returned to the court for the first time in eight days, they not only found themselves in a close game late, but they were without JJ Quinerly who fouled out with 4:16 to play.
West Virginia was able to rally without Quinerly, stepping up their defensive intensity, as they overcame a fourth quarter deficit, and remained undefeated, beating Wright State, 77-72 in front of thousands of West Virginia students on Education Day with kids from across the state.
“I did not think we played particularly well. Not even sure we deserved for the majority of that game to win. But I thought we battled, so I was proud of that,” West Virginia head coach Mark Kellogg said.
The layoff seemed to be effecting West Virginia (10-0) early. The Mountaineers struggled to get in a groove early, as Wright State scored the first five points, and held a 10-5 lead. West Virginia answered with an 8-0 run as JJ Quinerly scored six of the eight points and 12 total points in the first quarter, as WVU led 18-15 after the opening 10 minutes.
“Everything about this was weird. From the early start, we didn’t have a shoot around, you don’t have a pregame meal, everything about this was weird. I was searching like heck just to find anything that might work.”
It was a duel between Quinerly and Hutchison. Both set career-highs in points and what Quinerly was for West Virginia is what Alexis Hutchison was for Wright State. Hutchison came into Monday averaging 17 points per game, and she passed that in the first half alone.
Hutchison scored 21 points in the first half, going 8 for 11 from the field, including making five three-pointers. Hutchison would not be the only Raider to have success from three. As a team, Wright State made eight three-pointers in the first half, helping them keep pace with the Mountaineers.
“The Hutchison kid was phenomenal,” Kellogg said.
West Virginia took a 37-36 lead into halftime, as the Mountaineers closed the first half on a 6-0 run over the final 1:42, with all six points coming on free throws.
In the second half, Wright State didn’t slow down, as they took a 48-43 lead after Kaccee Baumhower hit her second three-pointer of the game. The Raiders’ strong shooting continued, as they made three three-pointers in the third quarter, while shooting 54 percent from the field, and taking a 54-52 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, both teams turned up the intensity late. The Mountaineers trailed 60-55 with 7:35 to play, and called a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the emphasis seemed to be to get inside and try to at least draw contact. They would be successful with that strategy, going to the free throw line a total of 22 times in the fourth quarter, as 15 of WVU’s 25 points in the final 10 minutes came from the free throw line.
“The game plan going in was we wanted to win the paint for sure,” Kellogg said. “We wanted to win the paint that was a big time emphasis for us.”
Hutchison would not let Wright State go down without a fight. West Virginia went in front 73-69 with 36 seconds left as Jordan Harrison made a layup out of a timeout. It didn’t matter to Hutchison, who hit another three-pointer, keeping Wright State within striking distance.
Kyah Watson made two free throws on the other end following Hutchison’s bucket, before Hutchison then again had the ball in her hands, but missed a three, before Jayla Hemingway was able to convert one of two at the free throw line. The Raiders had one last gasp of air to win, but they traveled on offense, securing the victory for the Mountaineers.
“They’re late we did go back to our traditional defense and started pressing,” Kellogg said. “I thought we got our energy back al little bit and that was after JJ fouled out.”
Hutchison finished with a career-high 37 points, while Quinerly had a career-high 30 points.
West Virginia shot 39 percent from the field, their second-lowest shooting percentage of the season. Wright State shot 51 percent from the field, which was the best an opponent had shot against the Mountaineers this season.
West Virginia wraps up their non-conference schedule on Thursday, before they begin Big 12 play on Dec. 30.
