Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s women’s basketball team opened Big 12 play in historic fashion Sunday, rolling past Houston 101-46 inside Hope Coliseum for its fifth straight victory.
The Mountaineers eclipsed the 100-point mark in a Big 12 game for the first time in program history and recorded their largest margin of victory in conference play.
Senior guard Sydney Shaw led all scorers with 22 points, tying her career high with five made 3-pointers while shooting 8 of 11 from the field. Junior guard Gia Cooke added 17 points, extending her double-figure scoring streak to 12 games.
WVU (11-2, 1-0 Big 12) put the game out of reach in a dominant third quarter, outscoring the Cougars 39-13 — the highest-scoring quarter in program history.
“That third quarter was awesome,” Mountaineer head coach Mark Kellogg said. “That’s us at our best. It’s free-flowing. It’s defense.”
WVU led 42-21 at halftime before erupting offensively after the break. Shaw and graduate forward Kierra “MeMe” Wheeler each scored 10 points in the third quarter as the Mountaineers stretched its advantage to 81-34.
Shaw said her rhythm came naturally.
“I feel like when I’m shooting and I’m not thinking about it, it’s going in,” Shaw said. “And that’s wha twas going right for me tonight. It was going up and I knew it was going in.”
Cooke, a Houston transfer, led all players with 13 first-half points and said she felt extra motivation against her former team.
“Coach asked me do you have a little more motivation today and I said absolutely coach,” Cooke said. “It feels good going to a different program and do what I’m doing with great players beside me. I was just excited to get at it and I had a lot more motivation to whoop them.”
Junior guard Riley Makalusky finished with 15 points, knocking down five 3-pointers — four in the fourth quarter — while Wheeler totaled 12 points, six rebounds and six steals. Senior guard Jordan Harrison added 11 points, six assists and four steals, and sophomore forward Jordan Thomas scored 10 in her return after missing three games.
WVU forced 36 turnovers, marking the eighth time this season the Mountaineers have forced at least 24. Houston attempted just 18 shots in the first half as WVU’s pressure defense dictated the pace.
“They came out fairly aggressive in their defensive coverage, which is good for us,” Kellogg said. “We can use some of that pressure against them if we’ll play the right way and share the basketball, which we ended up doing.”
WVU finished shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from beyond the arc, outrebounding the Cougars 40-25, including a 16-3 advantage on the offensive glass. The Mountaineers also scored 50 points in the paint.
Houston (6-6, 0-1) was led by Amirah Abdur-Rahim with 11 points, while Kierra Merchant added 10 points and seven rebounds. The Cougars shot 17 of 41 from the field and committed 36 turnovers.
“Proud of the group for this one,” Kellogg said. “They had a good week. Their energy has been fantastic. We took a couple days off, so maybe that helped them out a little bit. I’m not sure, but I felt good coming into this one. A lot of times, how you practice leads to how you play.”
WVU returns to action Thursday, Jan. 1, at Kansas. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET in Lawrence, Kan.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
