MORGANTOWN — There is just no other way to put it other than saying the WVU women’s basketball team got off to a good start Wednesday.
The 18th-ranked Mountaineers rode the hot hand of Sydney Shaw and their defense nearly pitched a first-quarter shutout in a 76-43 victory inside the Coliseum.
“It was a really good start on the defensive end,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “I thought our defensive intensity was great.”
No kidding. Kansas (14-9, 4-8 Big 12) didn’t score its first points of the quarter until there were 35 seconds left. The Jayhawks also turned the ball over 13 times in the quarter.
Brittany Harshaw added a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer, but by then, WVU (18-4, 8-3) led 18-6.
Shaw had 13 of her career-high 22 points in the first quarter and the victory handed the Mountaineers their 14th consecutive home win.
Shaw, a transfer from Auburn, has combined for 40 points over her last two games.
“I thought Sydney Shaw was really good,” Kellogg said. “She made some shots.”
Shaw opened the game with a 3-pointer, then hit three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt and added seven more points for 13 of the game’s first 15 points.
Jordan Harrison converted a three-point play with 44 seconds to go in the first quarter to make it 18-0.
The Jayhawks never got within single digits and it was 39-19 at the half when Harrison hit a 3 in the closing seconds. The biggest lead was 72-37 with just less than three minutes remaining.
“I thought we were turning them over and not converting those into as many points as we should have,” Kellogg said. “I thought the same thing at halftime when they had 19 points. I thought we should have had, legitimately, 50-plus points. “
J.J. Quinerly went scoreless in the first half, but finished with 16 points. She passed former WVU standout Talisha Hargis for sixth place on WVU’s all-time scoring list. Quinerly now has 1,763 points and needs 57 points to reach the top five.
“J.J. was a little frustrated, I think, there for a while,” Kellogg said. “Then she went from no points to 16 in a very short period of time, which we know she can do.”
Harrison had 15 points and six rebounds.
With the victory, WVU remains two games back of No. 12 Kansas State in the Big 12 standings with seven games remaining in the regular season.
The top of the league is jumbled. WVU is currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference, along with Oklahoma State and Utah.
TCU and Baylor also sit between WVU and Kansas State.
The Mountaineers have their only showdown of the regular season with K-State on Feb. 17, in Morgantown.
S’Mya Nichols had 12 points for the Jayhawks, eight below her average. Kansas also had a season low in points by 13.
The Mountaineers had 36 points off 29 Kansas turnovers, with 17 steals. WVU forced more than 20 turnovers for the 18th time and its average is 25 with 15 steals. West Virginia also had a 36-25 rebounding advantage.
WVU now hits the road with a game at Houston at 3 p.m. Saturday.
