MORGANTOWN — TCU’s three-headed monster was worth more than one determined J.J. Quinerly on Saturday.
That was basically the root cause behind the top-seeded and No. 8-ranked Horned Frogs advancing to the Big 12 tournament championship after a 71-65 victory against fourth-seeded and 16th-ranked WVU on Saturday.
What played out inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., was WVU (24-7) had very little success matching up with TCU duo Sedona Prince and Hailey Van Lith early, and then sharpshooter Madison Conner got going in the second half.
That trio — all Big 12 first-teamers, with Van Lith the conference’s Player of the Year — combined for 53 points.
For added measure, Prince, a 6-foot-7 executive of the boards, finished with 16 rebounds.
“They’re playing really well with a ton of confidence,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said of TCU. “I thought we were ready to go. I thought we were prepared. I liked our kids’ mindset. We didn’t play particularly well in the second quarter. That would be the disappointing part, that we just let them stretch it.”
TCU (30-3) will play either Oklahoma State or Baylor in today’s title game at 5 p.m. Sunday. The second semifinal didn’t finish until after press time.
“West Virginia, glad we don’t have to play them again, and excited to root for them for now when March Madness rolls around,” TCU head coach Mark Campbell said. “West Virginia deserves credit. In the third quarter, they came out and put us on our heels, but these guys bounced back in the fourth quarter, which is what they’ve done all year.”
Quinerly was on the other side of it all.
WVU’s star point guard had carried the Mountaineers on her shoulders to end the regular season with a never-ending will to get to the rim and make something happen.
She had WVU going early with five early points that led to a quick 11-7 lead for the Mountaineers, but Prince and Van Lith took over from there.
Along the way, West Virginia was denied a trip to the Big 12 title game. The Mountaineers last played in the championship game in 2021, but this was the first time past the Big 12 quarterfinals since that season.
Quinerly finished with 20 points on 8 of 19 shooting. Her drive into the lane with 3:38 remaining got WVU as close 62-57, but then Conner nailed her fifth 3-pointer of the game moments later and the Mountaineers never got closer than six the rest of the way.
“I would say regardless of the game and how they went, I mean, as long as you stay in the game, stay together and continue to fight; it will come out whoever wins, wins,” Quinerly said.
WVU will now have a week to rest and wait for Selection Sunday to learn its fate for the NCAA tournament which begins March 19.
The Mountaineers had long ago secured their at-large bid for the tourney, but were hopeful it could also work their way into a position to become a regional host for the first two rounds of the tournament.
With this loss, it’s unlikely WVU will earn that distinction, even though the Mountaineers entered the day ranked No. 11 in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
The Mountaineers are likely headed to the NCAAs as either a No. 5 or No. 6 seed.
As for the matchup against TCU, Prince and Van Lith combined for 24 points in the first half, as the Horned Frogs led 40-25.
Meanwhile, after WVU started the game making four of its first five shots, the Mountaineers shot just 5 of 21 for the rest of the half.
Quinerly got some offensive help from Kylee Blacksten, who hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. Sydney Shaw scored eight of her 11 points in the second half.
