WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — Sydney Shaw scored 16 points and reserve Célia Rivière scored 12, as West Virginia overcame the ejection of six players just before halftime to beat 15th-ranked Duke 57-49 Friday night inside Colonial Hall in The Greenbrier Resort.
The unusual win was No. 499 overall for WVU head coach Mark Kellogg, who also earned his second win against a top 15-ranked team as the Mountaineers’ coach.
But the win was defined by what happened in the final seconds of the first half and then how WVU (4-0) responded in the third quarter.
West Virginia lost starters Gia Cooke, Jordan Harrison, Kierra Wheeler and Jordan Thomas, along with backups Carter McCray and Maddie Parrish and finished the game with just five available players, four of them normally reserves.
Duke (2-2) lost Jordan Wood in the skirmish, which took 15 minutes for officials to sort through.
Here’s what happened: Wood blocked Harrison’s shot attempt as time expired at the half, then flexed on her in a stare down. When the two exchanged shoves, the Mountaineers’ bench emptied before the teams were separated. Departing the bench carries an automatic ejection.
“I’m disappointed in the ending of the half,” Kellogg said. “I think we’re better than that — we’re going to learn a huge lesson — but I’m so proud of that group of five.”
Normally a reserve, Rivière was on the court at the end of the half. Trailing 23-20 at halftime, West Virginia emerged from the break and proceeded to outscore the Blue Devils 20-6 in the first six minutes of the third.
Rivière scored eight and Shaw had seven during that span, which saw the Mountaineers expand their lead to 40-29 with 4:03 remaining in the third.
The Blue Devils drew within 53-49 with 37 seconds left before Shaw atoned for some late turnovers and made 5-of-6 foul shots in the last 43 seconds to clinch it.
Cooke scored 12 for West Virginia before her ejection.
Taina Mair scored 10 points for Duke, which was held to just 38% shooting (21 of 56) from the floor.
WVU didn’t shoot it any better at just 36% (17 of 47), but was 20 of 26 from the foul line and the Mountaineers’ defense forced Duke to turn it over 25 times.
WVU entered the game 1-8 under Kellogg against teams ranked in the top 15, but none of those games had any kind of storyline like this one. With the win, it’s likely WVU will move into the national rankings for the third consecutive season under Kellogg, who will go for his 500th career win on Thursday, when the Mountaineers host Appalachian State.
