CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Mark Kellogg ended up comparing West Virginia’s 78-59 victory against Columbia to that of a boxing match.
The WVU women’s head coach wanted the 16th-ranked Mountaineers to come out swinging, to throw the first punch, as they say.
Well, WVU (25-7) did just that, and then continued to land a few more jabs and uppercuts over the span of 40 minutes inside Carmichael Arena.
Yet, there was so much more to this game than throwing a body blow.
The Mountaineers — both collectively and individually — made several statements in this game.
None bigger than the Mountaineers feel as if they belong among the nation’s elite, something they can go out and prove at 7 p.m. Monday, when they battle North Carolina for the right to advance to the Sweet 16. The Tar Heels knocked off Oregon State 70-49 in the first round.
“I think the statement was more about ourselves,” said WVU point guard Jordan Harrison after she scored 23 points and dished out six assists. “It was more that we could get back to a certain level with our defense and getting back to doing what we do.
“We want to set the tone, not just for one day. We want to keep figuring it out and show everyone what we’re about.”
J.J. Quinerly went a little bit of a different route.
She could have simply stopped with a game-high 27 points, but she didn’t.
The senior recorded seven steals and added four rebounds.
Quinerly was more than just a scorer on this day, a testament to the seven assists she added, including one fancy no-look pass to teammate Kyah Watson at the end of the third quarter.
“Honestly, I knew that play was going to be there,” she said. “Everyone came out on me and our shooters, so I knew the slip was going to be there and she knows I’m always looking for her.”
Minus the eight turnovers Quinerly committed — “I was too excited for this game. I think that was first-game jitters,” she said. — it was possibly the best all-around game in the program’s history.
No other player in the 51 years of the program has had a game that matches 27 points, seven assists and seven steals.
If you dial that back to 25-7-7, there’s still only one player in school history on that list, Quinerly’s.
Sure, the points are important, but everyone is well aware that Quinerly can put the basketball through the rim.
The totality of her game, she admitted in the back hallways of the arena, was with a partial eye toward April 14.
That’s the day of the WNBA Draft.
“One of my goals this season was to get my assist numbers up,” she said. “I believe I showed in this game I can move the ball around.
“Moving on to the next level, I’ll be a point guard, most likely. I wanted to be able to show I can facilitate and get other people the ball.”
And then there was the unspoken statement that WVU is on some kind of mission to prove it got shafted by the NCAA selection committee last Sunday.
WVU is ranked 16th in the country, according to the Associated Press Top 25. The Tar Heels are No. 12.
No way should these two teams be playing each other in the second round, but try telling that to a clueless selection committee.
We’ll go one more. WVU is ranked No. 12 in the NET rankings, which in no way equals a No. 6 seed.
North Carolina is No. 20 in the NET, which in no way should equal a No. 3 seed.
Now, you won’t hear WVU players or Kellogg moan and complain about it — maybe because they don’t want to spark another silly investigation by W. Va. Gov. Patrick Morrisey — but there was a definite tenacity shown by the Mountaineers against the Lions (24-7) that was at a higher level.
Which leads us to Monday, when WVU can make the ultimate statement.
The school has never been to the Sweet 16 since the tournament expanded past 48 teams in 1994.
Doing it now, at North Carolina, to spite the selection committee and to open up eyes to what this program has become would be the ultimate sweetness indeed.
“It comes quick, but we’ll g prepare and have another opportunity in front of us to leave a legacy,” Kellogg said. “That’s what our kids want to do. It’s what you want to do as a coach.
“I’m really just excited for them and to get to coach them one more time at least, but certainly we’re going to go into that game with an expectation that we can do something really special.”
