Shanna Rose I WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Heading into head coach Mark Kellogg’s third season, the West Virginia women’s basketball team is coming off a 25-8 campaign that ended in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers also finished No. 13 in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
WVU will be without several key contributors from last season, including guard JJ Quinerly, but the roster remains deep and talented with a mix of returners, transfers and freshmen.
Jordan Harrison
Harrison returns for her senior year after earning All-Big 12 third-team honors in 2023-24. She averaged 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game while shooting 34.5 percent from 3-point range in 33 contests. As a sophomore, she started every game and led the team with 173 assists. Her 96 steals ranked second in the Big 12.
Sydney Shaw
Shaw is back for her second and final season at WVU after transferring from Auburn. She averaged 11.4 points in 32 games last year while shooting 41.8 percent from the field, 33.5 percent from 3 and 88.1 percent from the free-throw line. She set a career high with 22 points against Kansas.
Jordan Thomas
Thomas, a 6-foot-3 forward, averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in 33 games as a freshman. A four-star recruit out of Carrollton, Texas, she was ranked No. 79 nationally in ESPN’s HoopGurlz Top 100 for the class of 2024.
Gia Cooke
Cooke transfers in after one season at Houston, where she averaged 12.4 points and led the Cougars in scoring nine times. She previously spent two years at Maryland and redshirted the 2023-24 season with an injury.
Carter McCray
McCray comes to Morgantown after two seasons at Wisconsin. The 6-foot-1 forward averaged 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds last year while starting 29 of 30 games. She had five double-doubles and scored in double figures 16 times.
Sydney Woodley
Woodley appeared in all 32 games last year and led WVU in field-goal percentage at 52.3. She averaged 3.9 points and recorded 54 steals. Before transferring, she played at Long Beach State, where she averaged 10.8 points and 104 steals as a junior.
Madison Parrish
Parrish is a freshman ranked No. 90 in ESPN’s HoopGurlz Top 100 for the class of 2025. At William Mason High School in Ohio, she scored more than 1,000 points and was a three-time first-team All-GMC selection.
Riley Makalusky
Makalusky transfers from Butler, where she averaged 8.1 points and 2.8 rebounds last year. As a freshman, she shot a league-best 46.1 percent from 3-point range and was named to the Big East all-freshman team.
Kierra Wheeler
Wheeler, a graduate transfer from Norfolk State, averaged 15.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks last season while shooting 50.1 percent from the field. She earned All-MEAC first-team and all-defensive honors. She has 1,434 career points and 862 rebounds.
Loghan Johnson
Johnson played two seasons at Texas Tech, averaging 5.5 points and 2.5 rebounds last year. She was rated a four-star recruit out of high school and named the TABC Large Private School Player of the Year in 2022 and 2023.
Célia Rivière
Rivière arrives after two years at Florida SouthWestern State, where she averaged 12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds last season. The 6-foot-3 forward from Paris, France, shot 53.4 percent from the floor and had 11 double-digit rebounding games in her JUCO career.
The Mountaineers open the 2025-26 season Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. ET against Purdue Fort Wayne at the WVU Coliseum.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
