MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A pair of 7-0 runs to close the first half and open the second half allowed West Virginia to shake off a sluggish first half and defeat Cincinnati, 69-50 on Senior Day at the Coliseum.
Trailing 21-20 with a minute to play in the first half, the Mountaineers scored the final seven points of the second quarter to turn a one-point deficit into a six-point lead at 27-21.
West Virginia used a 10-0 first-quarter scoring run to build a 14-7 lead after the opening stanza. After briefly extending that lead to nine points on a basket from Sydney Woodley, Cincinnati went on a 14-4 run to take the lead at 21-20. A three-pointer from Destiny Agubata and then consecutive baskets from Woodley and JJ Quinerly gave the Mountaineers a six-point cushion at intermission.
“I think it settled us at least at half,” said WVU head coach Mark Kellogg. “They took the lead and that was disappointing just to give up a lead. I thought we needed to control that game.
“I thought we ran some decent offense and got good looks. We just didn’t convert. That was the disappointing part.”
West Virginia (20-5, 10-4) opened the second half by scoring the first seven points in the third quarter. Bridging the second and third quarters, the Mountaineers blew the game wide open with a 25-2 run. WVU scored 23 points off of 24 Cincinnati turnovers.
“Being more aggressive in our press kind of starts everything for us when we are getting steals and touches,”said WVU senior Kyah Watson.
West Virginia built a 17-point lead [49-32] at the end of the third quarter and Kellogg was able to substitute senior and reserve players into the game late with a quick turnaround into their next contest. Eleven Mountaineers scored and 14 entered the game.
“The idea was to go a little but deeper early in this game if we could just to keep us fresh,” Kellogg said.
Quinerly led all scorers with 29 points (11-of-22 FG). She moved into fifth place on WVU’s all-time scoring list, passing Teana Muldrow.
“I haven’t really been seeing a lot of threes fall this season,” Quinerly said. “I kind of have to step it up going into postseason and everything else.”
Quinerly was the only Mountaineer to reach double-digits in points. Watson scored three points, grabbed nine rebounds and added six steals and four assists.
“I definitely probably need to look to be more aggressive on offense,” Watson said. “That’s what my team asks of me and my coaches. I am just trying to find a way to do that and not force things.”
“As I have said all year, she is the hardest kid, most of the time, for me to take off the floor,” Kellogg said.
Senior Day ceremonies were held in honor of Danelle Arigbabu, Kylee Blacksten, Tirzah Moore, Ashala Moseberry, Quinerly and Watson. This is West Virginia’s final weekend home game of the regular season.
Senior Day for WVU’s class of six:
Danelle Arigbabu
Kylee Blacksten (3-year starter)
Tirzah Moore
Ashala Moseberry
JJ Quinerly (4-year starter)
Kyah Watson (3-year starter) pic.twitter.com/ChtL3Y8HvT— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) February 15, 2025
“I saw my dad wipe has eyes and I was like, ‘Oh Lord’. Other than that, I was cool,” Quinerly said.
Cincinnati (14-10, 6-8) was led by Jillian Hayes’ 20-point, 10-rebound effort.
The Mountaineers face a quick turnaround and a challenging opponent next. West Virginia will host No. 14 Kansas State Monday at 2 p.m. in a holiday matinee. KSU (23-3, 11-2) is tied for the lead in the Big 12 with TCU and Baylor.
“Obviously a huge game Monday with Kansas State, who is playing really well,” Kellogg said. “They are well-coached and it is a good opportunity for us to get a quality win at home if we can do something special.”