MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Based on what Cincinnati had displayed through 12 games this season, West Virginia women’s basketball coach Mark Kellogg expected a choppy and physical contest Wednesday night when the 24th-ranked Mountaineers welcomed the Bearcats to the WVU Coliseum.
That proved to be the case for much of the matchup, though it was another game where the Mountaineers’ relentless full court pressure smothered the opposition, leading to 24 UC turnovers, 17 of which came in the opening half.
As a result, WVU was in front for the final 38-plus minutes and used a strong defensive effort combined with four double-figure scorers to stay unbeaten with a 68-53 victory before a crowd of 1,808.
“There wasn’t a lot of rhythm to that game. We weren’t at our best by any stretch,” Kellogg said. “Sometimes you win kind of ugly and I thought tonight may kind of play into that. Glad we found a way to grind out a different type of game when we didn’t have it all going offensively.”
The Mountaineers (13-0, 2-0) limited Cincinnati (8-5, 0-2) to one field goal and three points over the opening 8-plus minutes.
During that stretch, WVU wing Kyah Watson ran off eight unanswered points to turn her team’s only deficit of the contest into a 10-3 advantage. The Mountaineers ultimately settled for a 14-7 lead through 10 minutes after UC shot 3 for 12 with 10 turnovers.
Watson scored eight first-quarter points on 4-of-7 shooting, while the rest of the Mountaineers combined to make only 3-of-11 shots.
“At the beginning of the game, I was trying to be aggressive on the offensive and defensive ends,” Watson said. “That was my mindset going in.”
Lauren Fields started the second-quarter scoring with a three-pointer for the first double-digit margin of the matchup, and Fields made another trey 4:14 before halftime that left the Bearcats facing a 28-13 deficit.
UC offered a 5-0 spurt courtesy of Clarissa Craig’s layup and a Ta’Ziah Jenks triple, but the Bearcats never got their deficit inside 10 the rest of the way.
Instead, Jordan Harrison countered with a three and the WVU guard made another with time wounding down in the first half to send the Mountaineers to the locker room with a 36-19 lead.
“We rely on our defense to get us going offensively,” Harrison said.
Cincinnati missed its final four field-goal attempts of the first half and went to the intermission shooting 7 for 26 with 17 turnovers.
“West Virginia has very quick hands and they’re mart about touching you one time, but not two to pick up that foul,” UC head coach Katrina Merriweather said. “They’re bugging you a little bit to keep you out front. I don’t believe we’ve played a team like that. A lot of it has been pack line, so that pressure on the perimeter is very different. Their press is very similar to Louisville. There’s a way Top 25 teams are able to play and it felt like another Top 25 game.”
A Harrison three with 4:18 left in the third quarter made it 49-29 and gave WVU its first 20-point lead, while the Mountaineers settled for a 55-36 advantage through three quarters.
A’riel Jackson’s trey with 8:45 remaining brought UC to within 15, but the Bearcats got no closer until Jackson’s conventional three-point play cut her team’s deficit to 65-51 with 1:49 remaining.
The Bearcats had only seven second-half turnovers and shot 12 for 29 during that stretch to outscore WVU, 34-32.
“We have to figure out how to play well for longer stretches so that we can be competitive,” Merriweather said. “The second half is usually too late to get going.”
West Virginia made only 7-of-28 threes and finished 16 for 28 inside the arc, including 10 for 15 in the first half.
Watson had a team-high 14 points to go with four rebounds and three steals.
“She’s the glue that keeps this whole thing together,” Kellogg said.
Harrison scored 13, while Fields and JJ Quinerly contributed 12 apiece.
Fields’ five steals led all players, while Harrison had a team-best seven rebounds, though WVU lost the battle of the boards, 38-30.
“I was most disappointed in the rebounding,” Kellogg said.
UC’s Jillian Hayes led all players with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Outside of her effort, the Bearcats combined to make only 13-of-42 shots.
West Virginia had a 21-8 edge in points off turnovers despite committing 16 of its own and the Mountaineers registered all seven fast break points in the contest.
“They all count the same at the end of the year. No one is going to ask who you beat and how you did it,” Kellogg said. “You’re kind of defined by your record. We need to keep finding ways to get better and moving forward.”