Morgantown, W.Va. — For the last month, No. 22 West Virginia women’s basketball has been purely dominant. That did not change on Tuesday night as the Mountaineers beat Texas Tech 82-59 at the WVU Coliseum.
“Obviously, another solid win. Good win for the team” West Virginia head coach Mark Kellogg said.
Ahead of their toughest stretch of their schedule, the Mountaineers had a chance to continue their recent momentum they had built in Big 12 play. They did just that through their trademark defense as well as an efficient performance on offense, propelling them to their seventh straight win.
West Virginia scored 48 points in the paint, 21 from beyond the arc, and 11 from the free throw line, accounting for 80 of their 82 total points, while they also harassed the Lady Raiders on defense. WVU forced 24 turnovers leading to 30 points, while the Mountaineers had 15 steals and seven blocks as a team.
“That’s always the goal. The goal is always rim, free throws, and three’s,” Kellogg said. “We wanted to put some pressure on the rim and wanted to attack a little bit.”
It started in the first quarter, when the Mountaineers forced two 10-second violations on back-to-back possessions. At the same time, WVU went on a 9-0 run, as they led 9-2 with 6:52 to play in the first quarter. WVU ended the first leading 17-11, before both teams had a slow start to the second quarter.
WVU’s lead extended to 10 within the first two minutes of the half, but the Lady Raiders went on a 6-0 run, cutting WVU’s lead to four, and they would get it back down to five with 3:19 to play in the second quarter. WVU closed the quarter on an 11-4 run over the final 3:06, as they took a 40-28 lead into halftime.
The third quarter is where the Mountaineers would open their lead, s they went on separate 6-0, 8-0, 5-0, and 7-0 runs during the quarter. WVU shot 69 percent from the field in the quarter, while JJ Quinerly scored 11 of her game-high 21 points in the third.
“That third quarter was fantastic and us at our best. Played fast and got some turnovers and hit shots and got to the rim and got them in foul trouble,” Kellogg said.
The Mountaineers also held Texas Tech to 10 points in the third quarter, as they shot 33 percent as a team, and missed all three of their three-pointers.
“This was our best third quarter probably of the season,” Kellogg said.
WVU led by as many as 35 in the fourth quarter, before the Lady Raiders ended the game on a 13-1 run.
Kyah Watson scored a career-high 19 points for the Mountaineers on 7-for-11 shooting, while she also grabbed eight rebounds. The Mountaineers got out-rebounded 38-26, despite owning the paint in scoring, 48-20.
West Virginia finished the game shooting 56 percent from the field and shooting 7-for-18 from three. Texas Tech finished the game going 38 percent from the field, and 4-for-14 from the field.
