WVU Falls in Big 12 Opener to No. 20/18 Oklahoma

Saturday, December 31

Morgantown, W.Va.

2:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

9-3,0-1Big 12

Oklahoma

11-1,1-0Big 12

Oklahoma

West Virginia

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

December 31, 2022 05:07 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Tanner Cain

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women's basketball team fell in its Big 12 Conference opener, 98-77, to No. 20/18 Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.

West Virginia's (9-3, 0-1 Big 12) scoring efforts were led by sophomore guard JJ Quinerly, who finished with a career-high 28 points. She was joined in double figures by fifth-year senior guard Madisen Smith, who totaled 23 points. Junior forward Kylee Blacksten paced WVU on the glass, with a career-high 10 rebounds.

Oklahoma (11-1, 1-0 Big 12) went up by five to start, but West Virginia responded and kept the game within three points for the first three minutes of the game. OU then rattled off an 8-0 run, which forced WVU to call a timeout at the 5:58 mark, where it trailed, 18-7.

The Mountaineers would cut the lead back to six following the timeout, but the Sooners would answer to get their advantage back to double digits. From there, Quinerly tacked on a pair of scores to cut OU's lead to 22-16 with 3:37 to play in the opening frame. Oklahoma outscored West Virginia, 8-3, over the final three minutes of the period to lead, 30-19.

After the two teams traded a pair of scores, WVU netted seven unanswered points, including five from Quinerly, to make it a 32-28 ball game with 6:56 to play in the first half. OU would halt the Mountaineers' run, and the two teams would then trade scores until the 3:22 mark of the second quarter, where Oklahoma led West Virginia, 42-36.

From there, the Mountaineers jumped out to an 11-0 run to take the lead with just over a minute to go in the first half. Oklahoma would score with 33 seconds to go in the second quarter to cut West Virginia's lead to 47-44 at the midway point of the game.

The Mountaineers fell behind to open the second half, as the Sooners regained a 52-49 lead. The two teams would trade the lead from there until an Oklahoma 3-pointer made it a 60-56 game with 4:31 to play in the third quarter. Smith would sink a 3 before the media break to cut the game to 60-59.

Following the break, the two teams once again would trade the lead. However, OU would rattle off a 7-0 run across the final two minutes of the period, as WVU found itself trailing, 69-62, heading into the fourth quarter.

West Virginia got behind by 12 to begin the final 10 minutes of the game and was forced to call a timeout with 9:14 to play. The Mountaineers would cut their deficit to 10 points over the next three minutes, but the Sooners' offense kept firing down the stretch and would get their lead back up to 20 points with 2:36 left in the game. With the game out of reach, WVU tacked on three more points during the final minutes of the contest and fall by a score of 98-77.

Next up, West Virginia makes the trek to Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday, Jan. 4, to square off against Iowa State. Tipoff against the Cyclones is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, inside Hilton Coliseum in Ames.