No. 24 West Virginia women’s basketball suffered just their third loss of the season this past Saturday as they fell to Baylor.
On Tuesday, they showed the loss did not faze them, as they bounced back in a dominant 77-52 win on the road against TCU.
The Mountaineers brought their defense and turned it into frequent offense against the Horned Frogs. Needing a win to stay near the top of the Big 12 standings, West Virginia went back to their calling card of pressure defense and it paid off all night long.
The Mountaineers got on the board via the turnover as they forced four within the first three minutes, and they led 5-0 with all five points coming off turnovers. TCU would overcome the slow start, going on a 7-0 run late in the first quarter and taking a 14-13 lead.
That would be the first and last lead of the game for TCU. WVU held them to just five points in the second quarter, before closing the quarter on a 10-0 run as they took a 32-19 lead into halftime. Jayla Hemingway knocked down a pair of triples in the quarter, as she led all scorers with 10 at the break.
In the third quarter, West Virginia’s offense was able to come alive. After a slow first quarter, WVU shot 47 percent from the field in the second quarter. In the third though, WVU’s offense scored 28 points on 57 percent shooting. Jordan Harrison scored 11 in the third quarter, including getting a mid-range jumper to fall at the buzzer as the Mountaineers were in front 60-32 at the end of the third.
The fourth quarter would be TCU’s best of the game but it didn’t matter. West Virginia stretched their lead to as many as 31 in the fourth quarter, before TCU cut the final deficit to 25
Harrison led WVU in scoring with 19 points, and was an efficient 9-for-12 from the field, with all of her misses coming from beyond the arc. In total, four Mountaineers reached double-digits in the scoring column.
TCU was led by Agnes Emma-Nnopu who scored 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. WVU’s defense was able to successfully pressure TCU, forcing 20 turnovers, which led to 21 points.
The Mountaineers had a focus on scoring inside, as they had 50 points in the paint on the evening.
With the win, WVU keeps pace at the top of the conference standings, and are the third team in the league to reach at least 10 Big 12 wins. They also improve to 6-2 in road games on the season.
Up next is a home matchup against No. 22 Oklahoma on Saturday. Oklahoma is on an eight-game winning streak, and are set to play Baylor on Wednesday ahead of their matchup with the Mountaineers. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. from the WVU Coliseum on Saturday.
