MORGANTOWN — Coming off the court following her 100th game in a WVU uniform, fifth-year senior Jayla Hemingway had one thing to say.
“I would just say my knees hurt,” she joked after WVU defeated Houston, 80-39, Wednesday evening.
Reaching 100 games in the Old Gold and Blue is quite the feat for Hemingway. The Tennessee native played her freshman season at Mississippi before coming to Morgantown and her career would already be over if it wasn’t for the COVID waiver given out in 2020.
Not to mention she’s now on her third head coach in four years with the Mountaineers. What’s kept Hemingway a Mountaineer, according to her, is the women she plays with.
“My teammates have been a big part of it — I’ve enjoyed being around them,” Hemingway said. “I know they’ve got my back and visa versa. It’s just a family environment here and being far away from home, it’s good I’m able to have somewhere I still feel like I’m home.”
Hemingway played two seasons for Mike Carey from 2020-2022, one year for Dawn Plitzuweit in 2022-23 and is now playing under first-year head coach Mark Kellogg.
“This school means a lot to me, so I was just glad I was able to stay,” Hemingway said, “go through several coaching staffs and still finish out my career here.”
She hasn’t just been along for the ride either. Hemingway has averaged over 20 minutes per game in all four of her seasons in Morgantown and started all 60 games during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.
“She means a ton (to the program) and we’ve told her that,” Kellogg said.
Hemingway has transitioned into the Mountaineers’ sixth-man this season but still plays nearly 22 minutes per game. She’s the team’s top bench scorer, averaging 6.8 points.
“We’ve talked about her role changing a little bit this year coming off the bench,” Kellogg said, “but she’s still going to play starter minutes and we need her to have a big impact.”
Hemingway had been in a bit of a slump, shooting just 2 for 18 since the new year, but made three baskets and finished with eight points against the Cougars.
“She’s struggled here a little bit lately, so it was good to see her get back to it,” Kellogg said. “Get to the free throw line, get to the rim — that’s still where she’s at her best.”
Hemingway’s biggest contribution to the team, however, might be the things that don’t show up in a box score.
“A lot of our toughness is wrapped up into Jayla and I’ve told her that,” Kellogg said. “We want that part of our identity to be here.”
If Hemingway plays in all of WVU’s remaining 12 regular season games, she will be just outside of the top 25 of games played in program history. Runs in either the Big 12 or NCAA tournament could be enough to boost her onto the list and into WVU’s record book.
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