Box Score MANHATTAN, Kan. – Powered by a trio of 20-point performances, the West Virginia University women's basketball team picked up its first Big 12 Conference win of the season on Saturday afternoon, by defeating Kansas State, 77-70, inside Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
 
West Virginia (10-4, 1-2 Big 12) was led by sophomore guard JJ Quinerly, who posted a team-high 22 points to go along with seven rebounds and four steals. She was joined in double figures by senior guard Jayla Hemingway and junior forward Kylee Blacksten, who each tallied 20 points. Blacksten also paced the team in rebounding with nine boards.
 
Of note, Blacksten, Hemingway and Quinerly are the first trio of 20-point scorers for WVU since Naomi Davenport (23), Tynice Martin (23) and Kari Niblack (20) on March 21, 2019, against Rider.
 
The Mountaineers finished the game shooting 27-of-58 (46.6%) from the floor and made six 3's. What's more, WVU was 17-of-23 (73.9%) from the free-throw line, including Hemingway's perfect 9-for-9 line.
 
Kansas State (12-4, 1-2 Big 12) was led by guard Gabby Gregory, who tallied a game-high 26 points.
 
After the two teams traded to start the game, KSU sank a 3 to give them a 5-4 lead. On the other end, Hemingway responded with five points of her own to put the Mountaineers up by four. WVU and KSU would trade blows up until the media break, where West Virginia held a 12-9 lead over K-State.
 
The game remained close after the first break, but a 3-pointer from Hemingway before the 2:00 mark put WVU up, 19-12. The Wildcats would respond with a triple of their own to cut it to 19-15 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Quinerly opened the second period on a 5-0 run of her own, which gave West Virginia a 24-15 lead. From there, the two teams would go back and forth yet again until the midway point of the second. The Mountaineers held a 30-26 advantage over the Wildcats at that point.
 
Following the media timeout, WVU netted four unanswered points, which forced a KSU timeout. K-State would respond with a pair of 3's after the timeouts, but the Mountaineers would tack on eight more points over the final four minutes of the half to lead, 42-32, at the break.
 
Quinerly began the second half by tallying the Mountaineers' first nine points, but the Wildcats added seven of their own to make it a 51-39 game at the media break. Following the timeout, West Virginia added seven points, including four from redshirt sophomore guard Kyah Watson. However, on the other end of the court, Kansas State's offense netted 16 points to cut into WVU's lead. The Mountaineers led the Wildcats, 58-55, at the end of the third quarter.
 
K-State cut the West Virginia lead to one at the start of the fourth quarter. From there, the two teams would trade a pair of free throws and scores, as the game remained close. Hemingway netted a pair of free throws to make it a 64-61 WVU lead, before KSU called a timeout with 7:37 remaining.
 
The Mountaineers netted seven points after the break to jump out to a 70-63 lead. However, five unanswered tallies were the response for the Wildcats, as they cut the lead to 70-68.
 
To counter, Blacksten sank a 3-pointer and added another score in the paint to give WVU a seven-point lead with 1:01 left in the game. K-State would respond, but two more free throws from Hemingway with 17.1 seconds remaining would give the Mountaineers a 77-70 advantage to seal their first Big 12 win of the season.
 
Next up, West Virginia returns to Morgantown on Tuesday, Jan. 10, when the Mountaineers play host to TCU. Tipoff against the Horned Frogs is set for 7 p.m. ET, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. Tuesday's contest will be broadcast on Big 12 Now and the Mountaineer Sports Network, including 100.9 WZST-FM.