MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The opening quarter has been West Virginia’s strongest throughout Big 12 Conference play, with the Mountaineers having outscored opponents by 68 points in the first frame through their first 10 league games.
In Wednesday’s matchup with Kansas, West Virginia was at its best defensively throughout the first period and kept the Jayhawks from developing any offensive rhythm. In turn, the Mountaineers ran off the first 18 points, led by 12 through one quarter and remained comfortably in front the rest of the way to post a convincing 76-43 victory at the WVU Coliseum.
“A really good start on the defensive end. Our defensive intensity was great, which we wanted it to be,” Mountaineer head coach Mark Kellogg said. “It’s a short turnaround for them [from Sunday’s home loss to Kansas State], that’s a difficult prep and they had to travel. Punch first is a phrase we use quite a bit.”
With the result, the Mountaineers (18-4, 8-3) improve to 13-0 at home and are within three victories of a perfect regular season mark in Morgantown. All 13 victories have been by at least 13 points.
“We have a great home identity. We feel really comfortable here and our players feed off of it,” Kellogg said.
Sydney Shaw scored the first eight points and 13 of the first 15 to help stake the Mountaineers to a sizable advantage.
Midway through the first quarter, KU (14-9, 4-8) had one field-goal attempt and seven turnovers as it had great difficulty solving the Mountaineers’ full court pressure.
“After those first couple turnovers, they’re questioning themselves and nobody wants to handle it,” Shaw said. “We picked it up on that end and definitely took advantage of it.”
Not until the Jayhawks’ 18th possession of the outing did the visitors score, which came on S’Mya Nichols’ conventional three-point play, while teammate Brittany Harshaw drained a three-pointer just before time expired in the first to trim her team’s deficit to 18-6.
But Kansas, which had 13 turnovers and six field-goal attempts through 10 minutes, couldn’t sustain momentum from its strong ending to the quarter.
WVU made 7-of-16 shots in the second quarter, while guard Jordan Harrison scored eight of the team’s 21 points to help send the Mountaineers to the break with a 39-19 advantage.
Kansas went to halftime with a plenty respectable field-goal percentage of 42, but had as many turnovers (19) as field-goal attempts.
“They have terrific players that have really bought into the system and they execute it well,” KU head coach Brandon Schneider said. “They’re obviously a very well-prepared team.”
Although the Mountaineers were held to 13 third-quarter points, they continued to excel defensively by holding KU to 3-for-11 shooting that quarter. As a result, the Mountaineers entered the fourth with a 52-29 advantage.
Mountaineer guard JJ Quinerly scored 12 of her 16 points in the fourth to help WVU continue expanding its lead. Quinerly was scoreless at halftime before finishing three points shy of her season average.
Shaw made 7-of-15 shots and half of her team’s eight triples to lead the way with a career-high 22 points.
Harrison added 15 points, six rebounds and a team-high four steals in the win. She’d been held to 11 points over her previous two games.
“It definitely boosted my confidence,” Harrison said. “I was able to be in the game and play. Foul trouble was my problem. It was good to be able to play.”
Sydney Woodley gave the Mountaineers a lift off the bench with five points on 2-for-2 shooting and three of her team’s 17 steals.
“She’s an elite defender,” Kellogg said. “She’ll get steals and tips but you probably don’t always understand the value she has on that end.“
WVU finished with 20 turnovers and 11 assists.
“Assists are too low and turnovers are too high still,” Kellogg said. “That’s my biggest gripe offensively.”
Nichols, who entered averaging 20.2 points, was held to 12. She made 4-of-6 shots but had nine turnovers.
Laia Conesa led all players with five steals in the loss.
“We’re going to look for positives, but got our butt kicked in back-to-back games by the two teams it’s going to come down to winning the league in my opinion,” Schneider said. “They happen to be the two best defensive teams.”