MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Each Big 12 women’s basketball team has played three games and just two are still sporting perfect conference records. Those two squads will share the court Wednesday night at Hope Coliseum when West Virginia hosts No. 17 Texas Tech.
The Lady Raiders (16-0, 3-0 Big 12) are in the midst of the best start to a season in program history.
“They have some offensive firepower and production off the bench,” said WVU head coach Mark Kellogg. “Their leading scorer actually comes off the bench right now. They’ve got some size inside. They can shoot it from the perimeter. They’ve got it rolling and they are playing with a ton of confidence. We’ll have to be at our best to figure out a way to beat them.”
Under sixth-year head coach Krista Gerlich, Texas Tech opened Big 12 play with a 61-60 win over No. 15 Baylor and they backed up that victory with wins over UCF and Arizona. Three starters returned from a team that went 19-18 last season. TTU is led in scoring by Ole Miss transfer Snudda Collins. She averages 14.4 points per game despite not making a start.
“It is different when they come off the bench because you don’t know if that is going to be a minute, two minutes, what is the score going to be at that point. Is there game flow going on that is going to dictate something? I think you always have a few different options with game plans and maybe different assignments on who you want to guard based on where they move.”
On January 2, Texas Tech announced the signing of 7-foot-1 center Stephanie Okechukwu. The native of Umunneochi, Nigeria will be tallest women’s college basketball player in the history of the sport. In the release announcing Okechukwu’s signing, Gerlich said, “Our staff is continuing to work with the NCAA on her initial eligibility.”
West Virginia (13-2, 3-0 Big 12) is coming off a sweep of a two-game road trip in Kansas. The Mountaineers defeated KU, 79-72 on January 1 and they knocked off K-State, 60-58 three days later. The win over the Wildcats was just the second game for the Mountaineers this season decided by six points or less.
“You try to practice some of those situations here and there. You can never make up every one of them, that’s for sure. Their response was good,” Kellogg said.
“I thought we got better defensively and started to figure some things out as the game went on. And then we got some crucial stops late.”
“I think we stayed very calm,” said WVU redshirt junior guard Gia Cooke. “We stayed together and showed a lot of togetherness. We stayed on the right path with our blueprint and our mission.”
Kierra Wheeler led the Mountaineers in Sunday’s victory. She notched a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“People in the Big 12 have been sagging off of me,” Wheeler said. “I know I can shoot. [Kellogg] was just telling me to be confident in my shot. I don’t always have to pound the paint. I do have a nice shot.”
Junior forward Carter McCray had 15 points and 8 rebounds against the Wildcats. McCray has started the last six games for the Mountaineers, and she is averaging 9.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest since entering the starting lineup.
“Me and her are ‘undersized posts’. But we don’t play like it,” Wheeler said. “Having her in the game and her being able to move and still have that kind of paint presence has meant a lot for both of us.”
“With Carter rebounding and getting putbacks, we were just finding them,” Cooke said. “Meme [Wheeler] started going off and getting in her groove with the midrange. People are going to play us different all the time. Having them really step up and hold us down, like I said, that’s big and it helped us a lot in late-game moments.”
Mark Kellogg on Wednesday’s matchup with No. 17 Texas Tech.
WVU & TTU are the only remaining undefeated teams in Big 12 play (3-0): pic.twitter.com/WndLYOCLdI
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) January 6, 2026
WVU is 17th in the latest NCAA NET ratings. Texas Tech is 21st, giving the Mountaineers an opportunity for their second Quad 1 victory of the season.
“This is what you want for January 7th,” Kellogg said. “It will feel probably NCAA Tournament-ish. But we have already played some of those that were in November. That’s not unusual. That’s what the Big 12 is though. It is almost every night. They still count the same. Whether we are playing Tech or Kansas State, you are either 1-0 or 0-1.”
“We have just been waiting for another challenge,” Wheeler said. “This road trip was obviously a challenge for us. Anything on the road in the Big 12 is a challenge. Us coming into this game knowing Texas Tech hasn’t been beaten and they are coming into our gym, we’ve been in a great headspace of knowing our standard and being ready for the game.”