Defensive-minded Mountaineers top Oklahoma State 54-37 to even season series

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 24 Oklahoma State entered Saturday’s matchup with 21st-ranked West Virginia the No. 3 scoring offense among Big 12 Conference teams with an average of 80.6 points.

The Cowgirls failed to manage half that total inside the WVU Coliseum, and as a result, the Mountaineers avenged a loss earlier this month in Stillwater with a crowd-aided 54-37 victory.

“It was a battle. I’m as proud of this team and win for different reasons,” West Virginia head coach Mark Kellogg said. “It was a gut check, it was gritty and we had to battle when things don’t go our way.” 

It marked the second fewest points WVU (17-4, 7-3) has allowed in two seasons under Kellogg and the fewest points surrendered in any Big 12 game.

“You know what they’re going to do,” Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Hoyt said. “They’re really good at it and you still have to execute against it.”

Both teams got off to slow starts, and when the game was 6 minutes old, there had been only nine field-goal attempts and a combined 13 turnovers.

The Mountaineers settled for a 10-6 lead through one quarter after holding OSU (18-4, 8-3) scoreless for the final 6:59 of the opening frame.

WVU ran off the first six points of the second period in less than 4 minutes, leading to a scoreless drought of more than 11 minutes for Oklahoma State.

Not until Alexia Smith scored in the paint 5:53 before halftime did the Cowgirls break their drought, at which point the visitors trailed 16-8.

“Normally, if you hold somebody scoreless for 11 minutes, you go on a huge run,” Kellogg said, “and we didn’t separate the way we were capable of.”

Two free throws from Jadyn Wooten brought OSU to within 17-12 just past the midway point of the second quarter, but the Mountaineers countered with their second 6-0 spurt of the period that featured a Sydney Shaw jumper and two Jordan Thomas buckets from close range.

Smith accounted for the final basket of the opening half to trim her team’s deficit to 23-14 at halftime.

Through the first 20 minutes, OSU was shooting 5 for 22 and had missed all nine of its three-point attempts while turning it over 13 times.

That allowed the Mountaineers, despite shooting just 8 for 25 and having 12 turnovers, to lead by nine at the intermission.

“I told our team that we needed to be prepared to basically spot them 10 points,” Hoyt said, “because I think they’re that much better at home.”

A crowd north of 5,000 took in the contest, which was dubbed Pink Day as WVU donned white and pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness.

“It got loud and we feed off of that,” Kellogg said. “Our defensive intensity picks up at home and that’s been a challenge for us on the road.”

A triple from Shaw 2:26 into the second half enabled the Mountaineers to regain their nine-point lead at 28-19, and after Smith accounted for a conventional three-point play and then made two free throws with 1:02 left in the period, OSU was to within seven.

A key stretch followed, with Shaw draining a three, and JJ Quinerly sinking a midrange jump shot just before the buzzer, allowing WVU to enter the fourth with a 41-29 lead — its largest advantage of the contest to that point.

In its 64-57 victory over the Mountaineers back on January 11, Oklahoma State entered halftime trailing 38-33, but won the third quarter, 17-7.

This time around, there would be no comeback as the Cowgirls got no closer than nine over the final 10 minutes, with that occasion coming after Tenin Magassa made a short jumper to cut the Mountaineer advantage to 46-37 with 3:29 left.

Kyah Watson responded with consecutive layups in a span of 16 seconds to help the Mountaineers run off the final eight points of the contest for their largest lead of the outing.

“We need these closer games and need to find ways to run offense and get good shots in the fourth quarter of a close game,” Kellogg said.

Shaw made 7-of-10 shots and led all players with 18 points, though Kellogg noted he was more pleased with her defensive effort.

“It’s definitely been a point of emphasis with the coaches and me to make sure I’m taking things personally,” Shaw said. “My shots aren’t going to fall every night, but making sure I’m keeping the same defensive intensity.”

Quinerly added 15 points, eight steals, four assists and four rebounds, while moving into the top 3 on WVU’s all-time steals list and the top 10 in Big 12 history.

“I never really thought about it, but I’m excited about it for sure,” Quinerly said. “I try to bait a lot of stuff and force them to do stuff that they may not want to do.”

“She’s a pro,” Hoyt said of Quinerly. “She’s one of the best in the conference.” 

Watson scored seven points to go with nine rebounds.

Jordan Harrison was limited to four points over 20 minutes before fouling out.

Smith led OSU with 15 points. She made 9-of-9 free throws but only 3-of-12 shots and was her team’s lone player in double figures.

The 5-foot-8 Smith also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

OSU shot 21 percent (11 for 52) and made 2-of-23 threes while scoring 16 fewer points than its previous season low.

“They have so many players that sellout and fly around. It’s a different type of style that you’re not used to seeing for 40 minutes,” Hoyt said. “That plays into it. Overall, there’s a lot of experience, too.”





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