MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — While 22nd-ranked West Virginia entered Wednesday night’s matchup against Arizona State with a 4-3 record in games decided by 10 or fewer points, the Mountaineers had lost two straight tight contests inside Hope Coliseum after faltering down the stretch.
Hoping to see improved results from his team in tight spots late, head coach Mark Kellogg offered a message to the Mountaineers.
“We’ve talked about attitude and thriving in those moments, being excited and enjoying it,” Kellogg said.
The fourth quarter of the matchup with the Sun Devils was far more enjoyable for Kellogg’s team, which outscored Arizona State 19-6 over the final 10 minutes to rally for an important 53-43 victory.
“We were at our best in the fourth quarter when it was needed,” Kellogg said.
In a game where offense was tough to come by all night for both teams, WVU (16-4, 5-2) got even at 41 on Gia Cooke’s driving bucket with 4:04 remaining.
That was still the score with inside 3 minutes left when Sydney Shaw took a feed from teammate Jordan Harrison and canned a go-ahead three-pointer from the corner.
“My defender gambled and I was wide open,” Shaw said. “I didn’t really think too much about it which is why I made it. I wasn’t thinking this is for the lead.”
Go-ahead three-pointer from Sydney Shaw with less than 3 minutes to play that broke a 41-all tie and put West Virginia on top for good in a 53-43 win over Arizona State. pic.twitter.com/MvbR6VBSMi
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) January 22, 2026
ASU committed a costly turnover trailing by four with inside 2 minutes to play, and Kierra ‘MeMe’ Wheeler scored on the other end to leave West Virginia with a 47-41 advantage.
McKinna Brackens countered with the last of the Sun Devils’ three fourth-quarter field goals, before the Mountaineers made 6-of-8 free throws over the final 59 seconds to preserve the victory.
ASU missed 11-of-14 shots in the final frame.
“We did a better job on Brackens and Elliott late. We forced other players to try to have to beat us,” Kellogg said.
The Mountaineers led 13-11 after one quarter and increased it to a 10-point advantage at 25-15 when reserve guard Sydney Woodley scored in the paint 3:38 before halftime.
But that proved to be all the offense WVU would muster in the opening half, and the Sun Devils (17-3, 4-3) got five points from Gabby Elliott and an additional four from Brackens during a 9-0 spurt to end the half, allowing the visitors to trail by one at the intermission.
“We knew this was going to be a defensive showdown,” ASU head coach Molly Miller said. “Not a lot of points on the board, but a lot of grit from both teams.”
The momentum carried over to the second half for ASU, which was on top for the first time since 5-3 after Brackens scored in the paint for the first points of the second half.
The Sun Devils eventually built a lead of eight after Elliott converted a jumper off WVU turnover, but the Mountaineers got a conventional three-point play from Cooke and Wheeler’s bucket from close range to get back to within 37-34 after three.
“Even though we were down, we made a run to give us some momentum,” Kellogg said. “That was a big moment.”
Brackens and Elliott led ASU with 15 points apiece, but the remainder of the team scored 13 on 6-for-22 shooting.
Fairmont native Marley Washenitz, a starting guard on the Sun Devils, hit an early triple for her only points. The Pitt transfer had three points, three rebounds and two assists over 22-plus minutes. She entered second on the team with 41 steals but did not record one.
“We’re familiar with her and we’ve played her a couple times,” Kellogg said. “She’s a phenomenal defender and plays hard. Coach Miller kind of played like that.”
The Sun Devils have dropped three of five since 15 straight wins to start the season.
Wheeler shot 6 for 8 and scored a team-high 16 points. Shaw scored 11 and Cooke added 10, though she shot 3 for 14.
“A lot of times in the fourth quarter, a lot of us are in our head and thinking about ourselves,” Wheeler said. “We can’t be about ourselves. We have to play for each other.”
WVU made 11-of-19 free throws, while ASU did not attempt a foul shot.
“Ah, I’m speechless,” said Miller, who went on to add context. “We shot 21 percent from three and 36 percent from the field. You need some of those freebies to get confidence and see the ball go through the basket and we never got that opportunity.”