MORGANTOWN — There is rarely talk about bubble life or bracketology within the WVU women’s basketball program.
According to WVU head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, that’s by design, because those discussions can serve as a distraction rather than her players focusing on the task at hand.
That thought just got a little bit tougher Wednesday, after the Mountaineers held off Oklahoma State 71-67 inside the Coliseum.
Projected as one of the first four teams to miss the cut of 68 by ESPN heading into the game, the Mountaineers (18-10, 9-8 Big 12) made sure their bubble didn’t burst on this night.
Madisen Smith, in what may be her final game inside the Coliseum, scored 14 of her 22 points in the second half, as WVU erased a 38-32 halftime deficit.
J.J. Quinerly added 15 points and Isis Beh came off the bench to score 10 more, as the Mountaineers began the third quarter on an 11-0 run and never trailed again.
“I thought our resilience and toughness in that second half was some of the best we’ve seen all year,” Plitzuweit said. “I give our young ladies a lot of credit. I think their will was great and they found a way to come out on top against a really good Oklahoma State team.”
The victory keeps WVU in line for the No. 6 seed and a first-round bye in the Big 12 tournament.
It’s also another quality victory for WVU to present to the NCAA selection committee for their inclusion in the NCAA tournament.
“I think they’re a team that has two of the best guards in the country,” said Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Hoyt, who was whistled for a technical foul with 4:21 remaining that helped WVU take its lead up to 64-58. “They’re going to put up a good fight against anyone they come up against in any other conference.”
Smith and Quinerly certainly played a role against OSU (20-9, 10-7), which is projected as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tourney by ESPN, but the most critical play was turned in by sophomore guard Kyah Watson.
With WVU holding on to a slim 65-62 advantage with 25 seconds left, Watson found herself with the ball on the right wing.
Having been held scoreless to that point, Watson desperately looked for a teammate to pass the ball to, but could find no one open.
So, she took matters into her own hands and drove in for a lay-up that provided five-point cushion in the final moments.
“Kyah is a young lady who is playing on a sprained ankle and we really didn’t know if we’d have her,” Plitzuweit said. “She’s someone who has a great deal of toughness for us on both ends of the court. That play was a really big play. She got to the rim, took her time and finished it.”
Oklahoma State came right back and answered when Terryn Milton scored on a 15-foot jumper and then Watson nailed two free throws.
Anna Gret Asi hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to cut WVU’s lead to 69-67, but then Quinelry was fouled and she sank both free throws with five seconds left for the final score.
And with that, WVU heads into its final regular-season game on Saturday at Baylor still very much alive for the NCAA tourney in Plitzuweit’s first season.
Just don’t expect her to talk too much about that, which is just fine with her players.
“We look at it, but honestly, we’re just playing right now,” Quinerly said. “We just want to win out and get into the (Big 12) tournament. That’s all you can really do right now. There’s no point in looking at brackets.”
Note
Plitzuweit confirmed Wednesday that backup guard Savannah Samuel has left the team. Samuel had been dealing with an undisclosed injury two weeks ago, before returning to play eight minutes in last week’s game against Kansas State.
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