MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In a unique scheduling quirk, Sunday’s matchup between Big 12 co-leader Baylor and West Virginia was the first home conference game for the Mountaineers on a weekend date since December 21. WVU took advantage of a strong crowd (6,034) to hand the Bears just their second league loss of the season, 70-60.
With a typical West Virginia blueprint, the Mountaineers collected 13 steals and they forced 30 Baylor turnovers in their best conference victory of the season.
“We definitely feed off their energy a lot,” said WVU senior guard Jordan Harrison. “They were very important in that win. It was a great crowd.”
“We played hard. We competed and kind of stuck to the game plan and made the right plays,” said WVU head coach Mark Kellogg.
“We knew what we were up against. But it was a big opportunity for us. We felt like we have been really close at home and let a couple slip away. To play that fourth quarter and stay in the fight the entire way, I was just really, really proud of the group.”
The teams traded lengthy scoring runs in the first half. West Virginia closed the first quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 15-9 lead through the opening ten minutes. Baylor used a 9-0 burst midway through the second quarter to take a 25-23 lead. However, West Virginia scored the final eight points in the first half to take a 31-25 cushion into the locker room. WVU forced 18 first-half turnovers.
“We should have been up probably more than that,” Kellogg said. “We had shot volume on them but we just didn’t convert.”
“After the first couple minutes, I thought West Virginia set the tone,” said Baylor head coach Nicki Collen. “I thought Harrison and Cooke at the top of the press really, really bothered us. I don’t think we ever handled that at an elite level. I think it is something we have typically done pretty well.”
Midway through the third quarter, West Virginia build their first double-digit lead (44-31) with a 7-0 run. The Mountaineers led 47-37 heading into the fourth. In the final frame, frequent stoppages and fouls added up. Taliah Scott hit four consecutive free throws to pull Baylor within five points (53-48) with 5:42 to play. West Virginia immediately answered with a 13-3 run to put the game out of reach.
West Virginia held a 45-32 edge in rebounds and 23 of WVU’s rebounds came on the offensive end.
“If we are going to miss, we better find ways to get other opportunities,” Kellogg said. “We took 70 shots to their 47.”
Harrison scored 18 points in her seventh double-digit scoring effort over the last eight games.
“When we play better, Jordan kind of gets it going for us,” Kellogg said. “She was a little up and down early in the year. She would say the same thing. Over the last month-plus, she has been really, really good.”
Kierra Wheeler, a Norfolk State transfer in her first year in the WVU program, collected her fourth double-double of the season. She finished with 18 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
“I knew they were a good offensive rebounding team,” Wheeler said. “I looked over to my coach and he was like, ‘I need every rebound’. That was motivation for me to just keep going after it.”
“Something we wanted to focus on a little bit this year was get a little more presence in the paint. It wasn’t about size. It was way more about production,” Kellogg said. “It wasn’t looking at Meme as a 6-foot-1 and a half ‘4’ player. The girl has produced a ton in college basketball. She is a hooper and she knows how to play the game.”
Gia Cooke added 14 points for the Mountaineers and Sydney Shaw chipped in with 10.
Scott led the Bears (19-4, 8-2) with 18 points. Bella Fontelroy scored 14 points and Darianna Littlepage-Buggs scored a dozen.
West Virginia’s win, coupled with Texas Tech’s 62-60 win over TCU, moves the Mountaineers (18-5, 8-3 Big 12) within a half game of first place in the Big 12 standings, trailing both TCU and Baylor (8-2).
“With Baylor, we know the tradition of excellence in that program,” Kellogg said. “They were sitting ahead of us by two games (in the loss column) in the league standings. It was on national TV and you only get so many of those opportunities.”
West Virginia visits Colorado (15-7, 6-4 Big 12) Wednesday night. Tip time in Boulder is set for 9 p.m.