MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A 20-3 first-quarter run set the tone and created double-digit distance on the scoreboard, allowing the No. 20 West Virginia women’s basketball team to defeat Iowa State, 82-68 inside a snow-covered Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
WVU scored 30 points in the opening stanza while making 11-of-19 shots from the floor to build a 30-15 lead. The Mountaineers made five three-pointers in the opening ten minutes.
“I loved the first quarter,” said WVU head coach Mark Kellogg. “I thought that settled us in really quickly. Anytime you get a 30-point quarter, it is pretty impressive.”
“I feel like it gives us confidence seeing us make some shots,” said WVU senior guard Kyah Watson. “Since Jordan [Harrison] was hot, I am trying to find her, get her the ball and keep her going.”
Harrison scored 16 of her 20 points in the first half, as the Mountaineers built a 46-28 lead at intermission.
“That was a pretty good night, right? She was a lot of the offense in the first half,” Kellogg said.
“She makes us go. She’s the leader. She is the voice.”
Senior guard JJ Quinerly shared top-scorer honors with Harrison. Quinerly’s 20-point effort allowed her to pass Meg Bulger for eighth place on WVU’s career scoring list.
“We competed and were just kind of overwhelmed obviously by their pressure and their skill set,” said Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly. “Their guards are so good.”
Playing without starting guard and assist leader Emily Ryan, the Cyclones struggled to handle West Virginia’s pressure. Iowa State turned the ball over 25 times and the Mountaineers scored 26 points off turnovers.
“She’s the starting point guard and the only senior on our team,” Fennelly said. “Instead, we had to throw a freshman out there. I am not going to say the result was different.”
“I know they didn’t have Ryan but we executed really well, not only on defense but on offense too,” Harrison said. “I think this game was very important and it is still significant.”
“I think the world of that kid. She is unbelievably good,” Kellogg said.
“Her connection with [Audi] Crooks is unbelievable and she just probably slows everybody down.”
Playing with a variety of post players, WVU held the Big 12’s leading scorer, Audi Crooks nine points below her scoring average. Crooks scored 13 points and she committed six turnovers.
“I thought we battled with Crooks and tried to give her different looks as much as we possibly could,” Kellogg said.
“I guess that is the beauty of the team. We do have some depth.”
“Our posts did a good job of pulling her up so she had to get the ball closer to the free throw line,” Harrison said. “That allowed us to go in there to get some of those steals.”
“It was nice to be able to get a couple post kids in there and give her different looks,” Watson said. “Obviously, we are bigger in the post this year.”
Watson scored a dozen points while CiCi Riviere added ten points for the Mountaineers.
Addy Brown led the Cyclones (13-7, 4-3 Big 12) with 19 points. Sydney Harris added a dozen points for the visitors.
The Mountaineers (15-3, 5-2 Big 12) head west for a two-game road trip at Arizona. WVU will visit Arizona State Wednesday and Arizona on Saturday.