MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Members of the WVU women’s basketball team were guests at a crowded and high-profile party last March when they visited the University of Iowa in the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Mountaineers want to host the party.
As Mark Kellogg enters his second season guiding the Mountaineers, hosting NCAA Tournament play is one of the goals for a team that returns four of their five starters and six of their top eight rotation players from last season. Although discussions have taken place to make all NCAA Tournament games be played at neutral sites, all teams seeded fourth or better in the four regions will own hosting rights in the 2024-25 season.
“When we left Iowa a year ago, that’s what I said, ‘If this is the rule of women’s college basketball and these top four seeds are going to get these home games, then that needs to be our goal’,” Kellogg said.
“I want to be a Top 16 team. I want to be a top four seed where you get to host. I think the environment in Morgantown, West Virginia would be pretty special if we were hosting one of their first two round games here.”
West Virginia (25-8 in 2023-2024) captured national acclaim for their performance against Iowa in a 64-54 loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The game was tied at 52 late in the fourth quarter before the Hawkeyes closed the contest on a 12-2 run in Caitlin Clark’s final home game.
“There was the disappointment. There was the excitement. Obviously, there were a lot of eyes on that game. The majority of people talk about that game when you are traveling throughout the summer and there were a lot of people that watched that. So we got some notoriety from it. But we want to build off of it.”
The Mountaineers were picked eighth in last year’s Big 12 preseason poll and ended up finishing tied for fourth with a 12-6 league record. After a season that exceeded external expectations, Kellogg is hopeful the team can still embrace an underdog mentality.
“I like the chip on your shoulder, for lack of a better word. I think that is a lot of us here and it sounds like some of West Virginia in the past, the way the state is looked at. I don’t want to lose that. But at the same time I want them to feel like, they have worked their you know what’s off to have some of these expectations. We don’t want to shy away from that. We want to talk about some of those things.
“A year ago, we feel like we got about as much out of that group as we possibly could. As a coach, that is pretty satisfying. I want to do the same with this group.”
Amazingly, Kellogg put the same starting lineup on the court for all 33 games last year. JJ Quinerly, Jordan Harrison (13.5 points per game, 173 assists), Kyah Watson (team-high 210 rebounds) and Kylee Blacksteen (6.1 points per game) return.
“Continuity is a great thing. You don’t see that a bunch in college athletics right now. There isn’t a great deal of continuity, whether that’s coaches, players or transfer portal or things like that. But when you can get continuity, I think it allows you to grow exponentially.”
Fourteen players are on this year’s roster. Kellogg is hopeful that he can go deeper into his bench as needed throughout the season.
“We’re going to have more options this year if you, heaven forbid, have an injury or are in foul trouble or things like that. I just think there is more opportunity to play more depth. That’s good for us in the way we like to play. We would like to be a little deeper than we were a year ago.
“Ten is the number, for sure. That’s the magic number with the way we play. Last year, it didn’t happen very often. It could be eleven or more depending on the game or the situation or the score.”
Official preseason practice began on Tuesday. The Mountaineers will have a pair of closed scrimmages before hosting Towson on November 5 to open the season.
“Over the next four-to-six weeks, it is separation time for some of them. Ultimately, I think players determine playing time. I know I get the final decision but I do think players determine that in how they go about their business in their daily life and what they do on the court.
“I like to scrimmage a lot in Saturday practices. It gives you a week to work on some things and then let’s go play live against each other, get it on film and evaluate it. That gives kids opportunities to showcase at create some of that separation. That has begun.”
For the first time in her college career, Quinerly is playing for a head coach in consecutive seasons. Quinerly was recruited to WVU by Mike Carey and later played one season for Dawn Plitzuweit. Quinerly led WVU in points per game (19.8), three-point percentage (34%), free throws made (117) and steals (97) as a junior.
“JJ wants to be coached and she wants to set those goals. I think she wants to become an elite three-point shooter. She was around 34 percent a year ago. We have challenged her to get in the high-30’s, low 40’s. To be elite, I think you need to get into that category. To get the shot off a little bit quicker is one of her goals.”
After back-to-back redshirt seasons, guard Zya Nugent is set to take the court for the first time as a Mountaineer. Like Harrison, Nugent played for Kellogg at Stephen F. Austin.
“She is still working through and trying to get in game shape and get back to the player that she was. She was the WAC [Western Athletic Conference] Tournament MVP. She had 24, 25 points on North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament. So I have seen the kid play at a high level and we just need to get her back there.”
Junior guard Sydney Shaw is one of the most high-profile transfers to join the WVU roster in the offseason. Shaw played in 32 games while making 18 starts for Auburn last year.
“She needs to be an impact type player for us. What we’ve seen so far says that should be the case. It gives us another threat on both ends. But this kid has been an athlete shooter to date. She plays with some swagger about her.”