On Dec. 21, Colorado upset West Virginia, handing them their second loss of the season in their first Big 12 game of the season. On Wednesday, the No. 20-ranked Mountaineers flipped the script, defeating the Buffaloes 73-46.
Although they had their struggles at times, WVU was able to build off momentum when they had it and handed Colorado their fifth loss of the season. The Buffs had 30 turnovers in the contest, which West Virginia scored 39 points off.
JJ Quinerly and Syndey Shaw led the charge for WVU. They both had 19 points, while Kylee Blacksten and Kyah Watson added 10 and Jordan Harrison nine.
With the Mountaineers coming off a loss on the road to unranked Oklahoma State, they can only hope their win against Colorado gets them back on track in conference play.
Scoring was back-and-forth in the early going as both teams got good looks. With 6:25 left in the first quarter, Colorado took an 8-4 lead.
The Buffs’ lead didn’t last for long, as WVU picked it up halfway through the first quarter. The Mountaineers were on a 6-0 run, with Colorado committing three turnovers around that span.
The run grew to 8-0 before Colorado made their first field goal in a few minutes, making the game 12-10. The Buffaloes soon turned the tide as WVU struggled to get a score. CU went on a 12-0 run, forcing Mark Kellogg to call a timeout while the Mountaineers were down 20-12.
At the end of the first, Colorado led 22-15. At the beginning of the second quarter, WVU started chipping away at the deficit before they eventually took the lead with the first half winding down.
The Mountaineers ended the first half on an 11-0 run as the Buffaloes failed to score in the last 5:41 of the second quarter. WVU was winning the turnover battle, forcing 16 Colorado turnovers in the first half, which they capitalized on with 21 points off turnovers.
In the second half, West Virginia looked to stick with the momentum they left off the first half with and get back on track in Big 12 play. It was Colorado who got out to the hot start in the second half, however. They took a 32-31 lead early into the third quarter.
The Mountaineers were soon back on top after Kyah Watson knocked down a three with the shot clock expiring. WVU continued to rebuild their lead, going on a 7-0 run and leading 38-32 with 6:10 left to play in the third.
West Virginia kept their foot on the gas, increasing their run to 15-0 in its entirety as Colorado had no answer. Colorado picked it up towards the end of the third quarter, but WVU still led by nine, 49-40.
To begin the fourth, West Virginia stayed in complete control. Colorado did not score for the six minutes of the quarter, allowing the Mountaineers to go up by 20.
WVU improves to 14-3 on the season, 4-2 in conference play. Colorado falls to 12-5, 3-3 in conference play.
The Mountaineers host Audi Crooks and Iowa State in their next contest on Sunday. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. EST and the game will be televised on FOX.
Photo by Tanner Mountz, Blue Gold Sports
