MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A steady dose of JJ Quinerly paired with disruptive defense allowed West Virginia to up its level of play at the WVU Coliseum throughout the 2024-25 season.
Against the offensive-minded Utes, Quinerly turned in perhaps the best performance of her career and the Mountaineers prevented the Utes from ever growing comfortable as West Virginia never trailed in a resounding 75-46 victory to finish the regular season 16-0 at home.
Quinerly made 16-of-21 shots and scored 36 of her 38 points over the final three quarters, allowing one of the most accomplished players in program history to tie the WVU single-game scoring record and leave a lasting impression in the process.
“It was easy from a coaching standpoint,” second-year WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “It was get the ball to [No.] 11, get the hell out of the way and let her do her thing.”
It wasn’t quite that easy in the opening quarter though, when WVU (22-6, 12-5) relied on its defense to play from in front. The Mountaineers limited Utah to 2-for-14 shooting and 0 for 5 on three-pointers to build a 13-5 lead through one quarter.
Quinerly opened the second-quarter scoring with a layup off of Jordan Thomas’ steal, and while Utah (21-7, 12-5) scored the next six points on three-pointers from Maty Wilke and Kennady McQueen, the Utes would get no closer than the four-point deficit they faced 7 minutes before halftime.
Quinerly countered with a three 6:56 before the break and Sydney Shaw followed with one of her own to move the lead back to double figures.
With the Mountaineers in front 23-15, Quinerly went on a personal 7-0 run that featured a triple, two free throws and a layup off one of Utah’s 12 turnovers in the opening half.
Ines Vieira’s trey provided the final points of the half and brought Utah to within 30-18.
The Utes had only four more first-half points than Quinerly, who made 5-of-7 shots over the first two quarters.
“Keep in mind, [JJ] got the two fouls early and she ended with two fouls,” Kellogg said. “She’s a senior that’s earned that right and opportunity and we’re late in the year now, so we’re not necessarily trying to save legs.”
The Utes were to within nine when Gianna Kneepkens canned a three to start the second-half scoring, but the Mountaineers countered with eight straight points, getting four from Quinerly along with a bucket apiece from Kyah Watson and Jordan Harrison for what was their largest lead to that point at 38-21.
While Utah increased its offensive production in the third and matched to match its first-half scoring output with 18 points, the Mountaineers scored 21, including 15 from Quinerly, who shot 7 for 9 over the 10-minute stretch.
“I’m a little sad, but hopefully it’s not the last time [playing at the WVU Coliseum]. I’m praying for that,” Quinerly said. “But so glad to have these many people support me — my teammates, coaches and family. I’m definitely grateful I stayed here for all four years under three different coaches. It feels great to leave a legacy that I’ve always wanted to.”
Quinerly picked up where she left off to start the fourth, making a jumper that upped the WVU lead to 53-36. Two possessions later, with the Mountaineers still in front by 17, the 5-foot-8 senior made a three in front of her team’s bench to give her a new career high of 34 points.
“Everybody understood the zone she was in, so let it ride and roll with it,” Kellogg said.
Quinerly scored again on a jumper with 7:17 remaining, and after exiting the game momentarily, she scored again in the paint with 2:51 left. A jumper Quinerly missed with 2:04 remaining would’ve given her 40 points. She instead settled with 38 to tie Christie Lambert’s mark from January 1998 against Providence as well as Meg Bulger’s from December 2005 against Cleveland State.
“That’s the single best performance I’ve ever been a part of as a coach,” Kellogg said, “so really proud of her and for her to get to go out like this is special.”
Quinerly also added four of her team’s 15 steals.
Sydney Woodley was WVU’s second-leading scorer with nine points. Harrison added a game-high seven assists and Watson and Sydney Shaw tied for team-high rebounding honors with eight apiece.
Maye Toure led Utah with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Utes entered averaging 78.3 points on better than 47 percent shooting, but made 17-of-54 shots and turned it over 28 times.
“It’s a matter of spacing and being fundamental and we lost some of that with some careless turnovers,” Utah head coach Gavin Petersen said. “It’s one thing to talk about it, but another one to do it when it’s happening under the lights.”
While finishing 16-0 at home, the Mountaineers average margin of victory was 30.9 points, including 20.8 in nine Big 12 games. WVU won all 16 home games by at least 13 points.
“The energy is amazing and we play our hearts out when we can hear the energy in the stands,” Quinerly said.
WVU wraps up its regular season Saturday at Cincinnati.