MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women's basketball team defeated Bowling Green, 78-47, on Tuesday night inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.
 
The win is the fifth straight to open the season, marking the second consecutive season WVU has hit the mark. It is just the seventh time since the 2000 season the Mountaineers have opened with five straight wins.
 
West Virginia used a balanced offensive attack to collect the win with 11 Mountaineers scoring a point in the contest after shooting 52.6 percent from the floor. The mark is the best this season as three Mountaineers finished in double figures. 
 
Junior guard Jordan Harrison led WVU with 20 points. It is the fifth time in her Mountaineer career she has reached the point total. Senior guard JJ Quinerly finished with 14 points and added a game-high six assists and four steals. Junior forward Celia Riviere finished with 11 points for a new career high. Senior guard Kyah Watson finished with eight rebounds for the fifth straight game this season.
 
West Virginia and Bowling Green played an even opening quarter, featuring four ties, as the Mountaineers never trailed and led by as many as five points. WVU scored the final three points of the frame, on freshman forward Jordan Thomas' foul shot and a last-second dish from Quinerly to Riviere. The finish gave WVU a slight 18-15 advantage. Bowling Green was 7-of-11 from the field with five turnovers as WVU hit 7-of-15 of its attempts.
 
The Mountaineers scored the opening six points of the second to increase its advantage to 24-15 over the opening three minutes. Bowling Green scored their only two field goals of the quarter during the next two minutes. West Virginia held the Falcons scoreless and forced six turnovers over the final five minutes of the half. WVU scored 11 straight points to a 37-19 lead at the break.
 
Bowling Green coughed up 14 turnovers during the opening 20 minutes, leading to 22 of West Virginia's points. The Falcons turned the ball over on 42.4 percent of its possessions in the half.
 
The Falcons trimmed the WVU lead down to 13 points over the opening four minutes of the third. Eight points split between Thomas and fifth year forward Kylee Blacksten and a Watson corner three produced an 11-0 run and a 55-31, lead for West Virginia at the 2:54 mark. Bowling Green scored the final four points as WVU took a 20-point lead into the final 10.
 
West Virginia pushed the pace to open the final quarter outscoring the Falcons 17-3 over the opening six minutes. The spurt included a 15-0 Mountaineer run in the middle part of the action. The run pushed the WVU advantage to 72-38 at 6:22. The 34-point lead was WVU's largest of the night.
 
Of note, WVU is now 3-0 all-time in the series against Bowling Green and 2-0 in contests played at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers have run their nonconference home win streak to 33 games, dating back to the 2018-19 season. West Virginia is now 22-6 all-time against the Mid-American Conference.
 
West Virginia is now a perfect 16-0 in regular-season nonconference action under head coach Mark Kellogg.
 
Next up, West Virginia stays at home to face Lafayette on Friday, Nov. 22, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. The Mountaineers and Leopards are set to tip off at 7 p.m. ET.