The No. 6-seeded West Virginia women’s basketball team overpowered the No. 11-seeded Columbia Lions in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament by a score of 78-59. The Lions advanced to the First Round following their First Four comeback win against Washington Thursday evening.
Just seconds into the game, the Mountaineers got on the board first and didn’t look back. At the end of the first quarter, West Virginia lead by nine forcing Columbia into 11 turnovers and dominating down low with 14 points in the paint.
The second quarter didn’t look different for West Virginia. While Columbia added to their points first, the Mountaineers responded with a 12-2 run. The baskets didn’t stop there as West Virginia extended their lead holding the Lions to just 12 points in the quarter.
The half ended with West Virginia on top and a score of 46-29. The Mountaineers scored 26 points in the paint and had 15 points off of 15 turnovers. They shot 60% from the field and 33.3% from behind the arc.
While the Lions continued to pose a strong second half with 17 rebounds and 12 second chance points, they were not able to keep up with West Virginia’s speed. The Mountaineers numerously extended their lead to 20 points with their aggressive play.
At the conclusion of the game, West Virginia shot 53.6% from the field but struggled from behind the arc shooting 25%. Leading the game for the entire 40 minutes, the Mountaineers had a total of 48 points in the paint and 28 points off of 25 Lion turnovers.
JJ Quinerly led West Virginia with 27 points reaching 2,000 career points. She was followed by Jordan Harrison with 23 points. Columbia’s lead scorer was Cecilia Collins with 16 points.
The Mountaineers will take on the winner of the No. 3-seeded North Carolina and No. 14-seeded Oregon State on Monday, March 24 in hopes to continue their March Madness adventures.
