ESTERO, Fla. – The No. 12-ranked West Virginia University women's basketball lost to No. 5 Texas during the Gulf Coast Showcase Championship game, 78-73, on Sunday inside Hertz Arena.
 
West Virginia trailed by 10 points with just over a minute to play in the fourth quarter. An 11-2 run capped off by a Sydney Shaw corner three pulled WVU within one point at 74-73. Texas scored the final five points to hand WVU its first loss of the season.
 
The Mountaineers shot 54 percent to the floor, outshooting the Longhorns who made 43 percent of their attempts. The difference came at the charity stripe as Texas scored 26 of their points at the line to WVU's 18 points.
 
Senior guard JJ Quinerly led all scorers in the contest with a season-high 29 points. She knocked down nine jumpers and made 10 of 14 from the stripe. Junior guard Jordan Harrison finished with 20 points and six assists. Shaw was the final Mountaineer in double figures with 10 points.
 
The Mountaineers scored the opening bucket, but a 10-2 Texas run gave UT a six-point advantage at the first media timeout. Harrison attacked the glass for WVU scoring the opening eight points to pull within four at the 2:31 mark. Four straight points from Quinerly to close out the quarter saw the Mountaineers trailing 17-12 after the first.
 
A slow start afforded Texas a 30-16 lead over the opening five minutes of the second frame. Senior forward Danelle Arigbabu then took over, scoring eight straight Mountaineer points to trim the deficit to eight. West Virginia and Texas traded scores the rest of the way before a Quinerly three gave the Longhorns a 36-29 lead at the break.  
 
Trailing by 11 points midway through the third, WVU outscored the UT 10-2 to pull within two points at 48-46. Quinerly and Harrison split the work with four points each as Harrison added two to pull within two points with just under two minutes to play. Texas led by four points at the end of the third. The Longhorns were just 4 of 14 from the floor in the quarter but connected on 8 of 11 free throws to maintain their lead.
 
WVU finished the tournament with a 2-1 record, defeating High Point and Boise State on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
 
Of note, WVU is now 10-19 all-time in the series against Texas. West Virginia is 13-25 all-time against the Southeastern Conference. West Virginia moves 19-1 in regular-season nonconference action under head coach Mark Kellogg.
 
Next up, West Virginia returns home for education day on Friday, Dec. 6 at the WVU Coliseum against East Tennessee State. Tipoff for the contest is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET.