MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 18-ranked West Virginia University women's basketball team defeated Kansas, 76-43, inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown on Wednesday.
The win pushes WVU to a perfect 13-0 at home this season and runs its home win streak to 14 games. It also marks the second straight contest WVU has held its opponent to less than 50 points, limiting Oklahoma State to 37 and Kansas tonight to 43.
Junior guard
Sydney Shaw finished with a career-high 22 points on 7 of 15 shooting. Senior guard
JJ Quinerly finished with 16 points, scoring all her points in the second half. Junior guard
Jordan Harrison was the final Mountaineer in double figures with 15.
Fifth-year
Kylee Blacksten finished with a game-high seven rebounds. Harrison collected four steals in the contest while four Mountaineers finished with three to give WVU 17 as a team. Kansas finished with 29 turnovers in the contest, marking the eighth time this season the WVU defense has reached the mark.
West Virginia never trailed in the contest, as the Mountaineers outscored Kansas 18-6 in the opening frame. West Virginia scored the opening 18 points, not allowing a Jayhawk score until the 35-second mark.
WVU's defense was relentless, forcing 13 KU turnovers that resulted in 13 points for the Mountaineers. Shaw had the hot hand in the quarter, scoring the opening eight points of the quarter before finishing with 13. She was 4 of 6 from the floor, including a 2 of 4 mark from beyond the arc.
Harrison took charge in the second, scoring eight of her 11 first-half points to a 39-19 Mountaineer lead at halftime. Her buzzer-beater three gave WVU a 20-point lead, their largest of the opening 20 minutes.
Kansas coughed up 19 turnovers in the half which led to 24 of West Virginia's points. WVU attacked the glass, outrebounding the Jayhawks 20-14 as WVU corralled 11 on the offensive end.
WVU kept its foot on the gas in the second half, pushing its lead to as many as 35 points in the late stages of the fourth quarter. The 33-point win marks the 10
th time this season WVU has won a contest by 30 or more points.
West Virginia finished 25 of 57 from the floor and limited the Jayhawks to just 16 of 43.
Quinerly's 16 points in the game pushed her to No. 6 on the all-time scoring list with 1,763, passing Talisha Hargis (1995-98) with 1,751. Quinerly now looks to break into the top five, needing 1,819 to catch Teana Muldrow (2014-18). She is 3rd in steals with 303.
West Virginia is now 19-7 all-time against Kansas, including a 10-3 mark when playing inside the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia is set for a two-game road swing in the Lonestar State, opening the swing against Houston on Saturday. Feb. 8, inside the Fertitta Center. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. ET.