Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 19 West Virginia turned one of the Big 12’s most explosive offenses into an afterthought Saturday afternoon.
Junior guard Gia Cooke scored 21 points and Kierra Wheeler added 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Mountaineers rolled past Oklahoma State, 72-40, inside Hope Coliseum.
WVU (22-6, 12-4 Big 12) shot 51 percent from the floor and knocked down 12 3-pointers, but it was the defensive end that told the story. The Mountaineers held the league’s top scoring team — averaging 83.4 points per game — to a season-low 40 points on 23 percent shooting.
“I don’t know if we would ever use the term ‘statement win’ ever,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “I don’t know that would ever come out of my mouth.”
The Cowgirls head coach Jacie Hoyt had a different take.
“There’s not a whole lot to say, that was pretty much a good old fashioned butt kicking,” she said.
The Mountaineers set the tone immediately, opening on an 8-0 run behind 3-pointers from Sydney Shaw and Cooke and a fast-break layup from Jordan Harrison. WVU pushed the lead to 20-6 before Oklahoma State briefly found rhythm late in the first quarter.
Any momentum was short-lived.
The Mountaineers buried six 3-pointers in the second quarter and used a 13-2 run to stretch the margin to 40-23. Shaw capped the half with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, sending WVU into the break with a commanding 49-23 advantage.
Cooke finished 7 of 15 from the field and hit five 3s, marking her 24th double-figure scoring game and seventh 20-point effort of the season. Wheeler controlled the paint with her seventh double-double, helping the Mountaineers outrebound the Cowgirls 46-37 and outscore it 24-20 inside.
Harrison added 12 points, seven assists and five steals as WVU assisted on 21 of its 29 field goals and forced 16 turnovers. The Mountaineers limited Oklahoma State to just seven made field goals over the final two quarters and just five points in the third.
Stailee Heard led the Cowgirls (21-8, 10-6) with 13 points.
The victory guarantees WVU a top-four finish in the Big 12 standings and secures a double-bye into the conference tournament quarterfinals — the first under Kellogg.
“It was one of the goals, but we still want a Big 12 title,” Kellogg said. “We don’t care if TCU loses and we have to split it, to me, that’s still a Big 12 title. That’s goal No. 1 is to be a Big 12 champion. Obviously, getting a double-bye, we do understand those things. We’ve put ourselves in a position to talk about it on Feb. 21, so that’s maybe the most exciting piece.”
The Mountaineers close their regular-season road slate Wednesday at UCF. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Photo credit: Shanna Rose
