CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — West Virginia head coach Mark Kellogg knew his sixth-seeded Mountaineers needed to match the physicality of 11-seed Columbia to avoid an upset in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday. His team responded with a dominant performance inside the three-point line on the way to a 78-59 win. West Virginia scored 48 points in the paint and pulled down ten offensive rebounds to secure a spot in the round of 32 inside Carmichael Arena at the University of North Carolina. “We were prepared. I thought our game plan was good but we knew we had a challenge and last year when we played Princeton gave us a really good idea of what the Ivy League basketball is like and some of the physicality and some of their toughness and a great culture over there. Very, very well-coached so I think that even means more when you get a win against such a quality program,” Kellogg said. West Virginia scored seven of the game’s first nine points and 12 of its first 15 as Jordan Harrison set the tone with a steal-and-score layup plus a pair of three pointers in the first three minutes. The junior from Oklahoma City finished with 23 points to go with six assists. “I think I was just taking what the defense was giving me and not overthinking and having fun with my teammates so I think that helped a lot too,” she said. Kellogg stressed how important that start was after a two-week layoff following the Big 12 Tournament. “About a minute in, it looked and felt right and I think early in the first quarter, and I’ve said this a lot, I don’t really look at the score a whole lot early in the games,” he said, “It’s more about the feel.” Columbia’s Kitty Henderson responded with five straight of her own before JJ Quinerly took control of the opening frame. The senior guard scored 10 of her game-high 27 points in the opening quarter to help the Mountaineers take a nine-point lead into the second. With her scoring effort against the Lions, Quinerly became the fourth West Virginia women’s basketball player to score 2,000 career points and surpassed Bria Holmes for the third-most points in program history with 2,004. “I think I dreamed of scoring 2,000 points probably my whole life,” she said, “Just seeing it happening and being where I’m at with this group of girls and the coach I have right now, I love it.” After Perri Page scored the first two points of the second quarter for Columbia, the Mountaineers were able to seize control of the game following a sequence that began not with Quinerly’s offense but her defense. As Quinerly and freshman center Jordan Thomas double-teamed Columbia center Susie Rafiu in the post, Rafiu swung an elbow that caught Quinerly in the face and sent the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist crashing to the floor. She sank both free throws to cap a 6-0 run in the space of 19 seconds that gave West Virginia a 32-17 advantage. After the teams traded baskets late in the first half, Harrison dished to Thomas inside for a bucket in the paint that gave WVU a 21-point lead at 43-22, the largest of the game to that point. Columbia had an answer going into the half though, making its last three field goals before a halfcourt heave missed going into the locker room to make it a 46-29 game at the break. In that first half, the Mountaineers dominated the interior to the tune of 26 points in the paint while also doing its usual defensive work, forcing 15 Columbia turnovers. Harrison opened the second half strong for West Virginia, scoring her team’s first six points and Quinerly followed with a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 22. “Once you see one of us going, it just kind of motivates the other one to get going like we kind of did tonight,” Harrison said, “I know for me personally, playing with a guard like JJ is like my dream come true. It makes the game so much easier and honestly gives me a lot of confidence within my game too.” The Lions responded with back to back triples by Collins and Riley Weiss before a foul shot by Henderson trimmed their deficit down to 15. The gap never got smaller than that though as WVU controlled the final minutes of the third quarter with Quinerly feeding Watson for a basket in the final seconds to give the Mountaineers a 63-45 advantage going into the fourth. “We definitely came out making sure they didn’t have a game like they did against Washington and locked in on defense. They got a little run going but we settled in and we figured it out,” Quinerly said. The final frame opened with a Woodley layup to extend the lead back to 20 but a three-minute scoring drought plagued both teams until Henderson scored four straight to bring the Lions back within 16 at 65-49. Fresh out of the game’s final media timeout, Quinerly lined up an open look at three from the left side and updated the record books in Morgantown as the triple broke a tie with Holmes for third on the all-time scoring list. “If we had a Mount Rushmore, JJ Quinerly should be on that list,” Kellogg said, “I think she’s solidifying herself with the steals and the points and the loyalty and staying four four years in an era where that’s very unlikely, especially through three coaching changes. That’s normally kids transfer three times, not stay through three coaching changes so really, really proud of her.” West Virginia’s ball handling depth proved to once again be a difference maker in the game as Columbia attempted to turn up the defensive pressure in the final minutes with WVU committing just two turnovers in the last three minutes of play to close out the victory. “We got through it. Like we said, we got a couple guards that can dribble through. We got Kyah (Watson) who can also bring the ball up,” Quinerly said, “We got a couple people who are versatile so we used them to the best of our ability. Joining Quinerly and Harrison in double figures, true freshman Thomas came within a rebound of a double-double and scored 12 points while reeling in nine boards. “I thought she settled in the second rotation through. Her first rotation I thought she looked a little more freshman-like and I thought she settled in and was really good for us and we needed it,” Kellogg said. Collins led Columbia with 16 points and six assists while Weiss scored 14 points on 5-12 shooting after she scored 24 points to lead Columbia to a comeback win over Washington on Thursday. With the victory, WVU moves to 25-7 on the season and has won at least 25 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. West Virginia will return to action in the Round of 32 on Monday to face third-seeded North Carolina, a 70-49 winner later Saturday against 14th-seeded Oregon State. Tip time is to be determined.
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