MORGANTOWN — Put simply, Mark Kellogg called it the closing of a chapter Saturday, as the No. 24 WVU women’s basketball team ended a three-game losing skid with a 57-49 victory against TCU.
The next chapter already has a temporary title: Uncertainty.
That’s because WVU played the final 17:29 of the game without star J.J. Quinerly, who injured her knee after colliding with teammate Kylee Blacksten early in the third quarter.
Quinerly was escorted back to the locker room and came back out to the bench minutes later, but she only watched the rest of the game with a towel draped over her head.
“J.J. is certainly the leader of this group on the court and you never want to see anybody go down,” Kellogg said. “I do not have any report as of right now. I’m sure over the next couple of days, we’ll get a better report on that one. Hopefully, we dodge a bullet and get her back soon.”
That would be the best news for the Mountaineers (23-6, 12-6 Big 12), who concluded their first regular season under Kellogg having exceeded expectations.
WVU fans noticed that, too. Saturday’s crowd of 3,789 boosted the season attendance average to 2,861 per home game, the second-largest average in the program’s history.
Only the 2010-11 season (3,103) averaged more per season.
“Women’s basketball is starting to get the life it deserves and people are starting to notice it,” said WVU guard Jayla Hemingway, who played her final game at the Coliseum and scored eight points off the bench. “Knowing the people of Morgantown love the athletes and love to show their support, seeing them actually show up for us is really eye-opening. We really appreciate that.”
Quinerly’s status — she had 14 points before going down — is now the focus for the Mountaineers, because the next time they take the court it will be in Kansas City, Mo. for the Big 12 tournament.
It’s likely WVU will enter that tournament as the No. 6 seed. Baylor hosts Oklahoma State on Sunday, and that game will determine the final numbers.
If Baylor wins, WVU is the No. 6 seed. If Oklahoma State wins, WVU moves up the No. 4 seed. The top four seeds earn a double-bye in the conference tournament.
“Do I care what seed? Sure. I’d love to be the highest seed we can possibly be,” Kellogg said. “Now, matchups and all that, I think you have to be careful kind of hoping you play a certain team. I’ve always tried to steer away from that a little bit.”
As for Saturday’s game, the Mountaineers got a true sense of Quinerly’s value to the team.
While she was in the game, WVU built a 40-19 lead and held TCU (19-10, 6-12) without a point for nearly 11 minutes in the first half.
Without her, TCU outscored WVU 30-17.
“We survived the third quarter and was still up 18 going into the fourth,” Kellogg said. “We lost our way in the fourth. We were searching for the right shots, right kids, right time. Who really wants it? We never really found it.
“We were defending well enough. I told them that in the fourth quarter, I don’t know what the offense is going to look like, but you’re defending well enough to win this game.”
WVU did force 27 turnovers and its defense came up with 16 steals.
Jordan Harrison and Quinerly both finished with 14 points and Kyah Watson added eight points and seven rebounds.
TCU’s duo of Madison Conner and Sedona Prince combined led the Horned Frogs. Conner had 18 points and Prince finished with a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
