KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The No. 16 ranked West Virginia women's basketball team collected its third ranked win of the season with an 73-69 win over No. 20 Kansas State inside the T-Mobile Center on Friday during the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship Quarterfinals.
The Mountaineers gave up 33 points to the Wildcats in the opening quarter before locking down defensively over the final three to allow just 36 points over 30 minutes. Kansas State took an eight-point lead into halftime after leading by as many as 12 points in the late stages of the second quarter.
West Virginia chipped away out of the break, with junior guard
Jordan Harrison pouring in 11 points in the quarter. Harrison connected on 4 of her 6 shots and cashed in on a pair free throws during the third quarter surge. Her driving layup at the 1:10 mark of the quarter gave WVU a 54-53 lead. It was WVU's first lead since the early stages of the first quarter. KSU banked in a buzzer-beater three as time expired in the quarter to see WVU trailing by two points with 10 minutes to play.
Harrison scored six straight points to open the fourth as freshman
Jordan Thomas knocked down a pair of threes to give WVU a six-point advantage with five minutes gone. A 7-1 Kansas State run pushed the Wildcats ahead by two points as the clock ticked under two minutes to play.
Thomas leveled the score at 69 before senior guard
JJ Quinerly's runner in the lane with 45 second to play gave WVU the lead for good. Junior guard
Sydney Shaw put the game on ice with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.
One of the nation's premiere guard duo's in Quinerly and Harrison combined for 43 of the Mountaineers points in the win after shooting a combined 55% from the floor. Quinerly finished with a game-high 24 points to mark her third straight contest with 20+ points. Harrison finished the afternoon with 19 points.
Shaw added 13 points as Thomas had 11 to give WVU four in double figures. Senior guard
Kyah Watson paced the Mountaineers with seven rebounds while Thomas added six, all coming on the offensive glass.
The Mountaineers advance to the Big 12 Championship Semifinals for the sixth time in program history and the first since the 2021 season. WVU is now 13-10 all time when competing at the conference championship.
West Virginia will now take on the No. 1 seed TCU on Saturday, March 8, inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Tipoff for the semifinal matchup is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
