MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Almost a year to the date of one of the most memorable victories in program history, the WVU women’s basketball team will return to The Greenbrier Friday to face Northwestern in a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The game will be broadcast by CBS Sports Network.
Playing the entire second half with just five available players following a halftime dustup that saw several players ejected, West Virginia defeated No. 15 Duke, 57-49.
“To have the game that we did, that’s what sport is. You just never know. It is unscripted,” said WVU head coach Mark Kellogg. “We got a lot of eyes on it. We had people across the country, coaches, people we didn’t know, saying they heard what was going on. As the game went, the numbers probably went up.”
Under first-year head coach Carla Berube, Northwestern is off to a 1-2 start following a 76-71 loss to UIC on Sunday. Berube came to Northwestern following a successful seven-year stint at Princeton. Berube faced Kellogg in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Friday’s game will be played inside Colonial Hall at The Greenbrier Resort, a unique environment inside a ballroom awaits the players and coaches.
“It is different with the background, the backdrop and the low ceiling. It almost feels like when you shoot it, it may hit the — I know they take the chandelier out. But I have been in there with the chandelier and there is just not a lot of room up there. But once you tip it up, you don’t think about any of those types of things.”
No. 24 West Virginia (3-0) played three games in six days to open up the season last week. The Mountaineers defeated Rhode Island and George Washington at Hope Coliseum before winning at Georgia Tech, 81-63 on Sunday.
“That might have been the busiest opening week that I’ve had as a collegiate head coach with the three games and the one day in between the first two and obviously the road trip. We got better as the week went on. We got better through practicing, which was limited. But just the opportunities to watch film, critique ourselves, play to a standard.”
In Sunday’s win at Georgia Tech, UCF transfer Khyala Ngodu delivered her best performance to date as a Mountaineer with nine points and ten rebounds.
“That was her best, for sure. She had a big group of fans there as well and she spent some time in Atlanta and has quite a bit of family there. I kind of wanted her, selfishly, to get the double-double.”
Kellogg signs three for 2027 recruiting class
On the opening day of the national signing window, Kellogg officially signed his daughter Kayli to become a Mountaineer. Kayli is entering her senior season at Morgantown High School and she led the Mohigans to Class AAAA state runner-up finishes in 2024 and 2025. She committed to play at WVU in August.
“Honestly, there hadn’t been that much emotion for me at all until this morning. And I didn’t have it with her this morning. As I was driving into work, normally I am a radio guy. It was just pretty quiet in my vehicle and I am pretty proud of her,” Mark Kellogg said.
“I have had a front row seat for a lot of what Kayli’s career has been through with the injury. When she was little, she was coming to my camps and those types of things. But I have missed a lot too. So I think it was all of that. It just kind of hit me.
“She has worked really hard for it. She is not coming here because she is Mark Kellogg’s daughter. She is coming here because she has earned the opportunity.”
Kellogg will return to the MHS lineup this winter after missing the entire 2025-2026 season due to a knee injury.
“When Kayli went down, I had a pretty good idea of what it was. At the time, I hadn’t seen her in that level of pain. It always hurts. It hurts a little bit more when it is your own kid, without question.
“After that, she was a champ. She had very few bad moments. I don’t know if she had many at all. She attacked the rehab and I watched her through that process. She started to get annoyed when a therapist would ask her on a 1-to-10, mentally where are you? She’s like, ‘I’m fine. You don’t need to ask me that every time I come in here. I’m great’.”
WVU head coach Mark Kellogg on Wednesday’s signing of his daughter Kayli to become a Mountaineer:
#wvgirlsbb https://t.co/daehJYM3AH— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) November 11, 2026
Kellogg announced the signing of three incoming freshmen for their Class of 2027. In addition to Kayli Kellogg, Zya Small and Chance Berry officially signed to become Mountaineers. Small is a 6-foot-1 forward from Scranton, Pa. Berry is a 5-foot-10 point guard from Ontario, Canada.
“Zya Small, we have recruited for a little bit. I have been out there numerous times and I have watched her play so many basketball games. She is just a great fit for what we do.
“Chance Berry just committed a week ago but we had known about it for a little while. We think she is an elite, elite point guard. She can play with or without the ball. We’ll play her with the ball. That’s kind of what we are recruiting her to be.”