Mountaineer Women Back On Track With UCF Win

ORLANDO, FL—-JJ Quinerly scored a game high 21 points and No. 24 WVU (14-2, 3-2 Big 12) got back to its winning ways defeating Central Florida 76-59 Saturday. WVU, which had lost back-to-back games to defending Big 12 champion Iowa State and to No. 10 Texas, forced 26 UCF turnovers, including 12 steals and held the Knights to 29 percent shooting. The Mountaineers went into the game leading the country in total steals (222) and 14.8 steals per game.

Lauren Fields hit 3-three pointers and finished with 13 points for the Mountaineers. Jordan Harrison had 19 points. WVU led the Knights 35-29 at the half. Quinerly hit a milestone scoring her 1,000 th career point in the contest. She became the 40th player in program history to accomplish the feat. She joins Madisen Smith (2019-23), Kari Niblack (2019-22) and Kysre Gondrezick (2018-21). Quinerly added a team leading four assists. Watson led in rebounds with six. Harrison and Watson had three steals each.

The Mountaineers jumped out to a 50-33 lead scoring 15 points over the opening five minutes of the third quarter. The Mountaineers took a 58-38 lead at the end of the third period. UCF outscored WVU in the fourth quarter 21-18.

The Mountaineers shot 28 of 62 (45 percent) from the field and netted 14 second chance points. Five WVU players finished the game with multiple steals.

The victorious Mountaineers return home Wednesday January 17 to face Houston at the Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Be there and be loud!