MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s first public game without former star guard J.J. Quinerly ended up like so many of its games with her in the lineup.
The Mountaineers forced 37 turnovers and recorded 21 steals in a 95-43 exhibition victory against Fairmont State on Sunday inside the Hope Coliseum.
“At times it looks pretty good. At times there’s plenty of things for us to work on,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “I thought we had moments of being pretty good, but obviously the fouling was kind of crazy and the amount of free throws. We’ll work on that. We didn’t shoot it particularly well from three, so we’ll continue to work from there.”
West Virginia’s high-octane pressure defense was whistled for 29 fouls and Fairmont State attempted 35 free throws.
Good thing the Mountaineers still remembered how to steal the ball.
“Can our pressure sustain? There are things we’re still working on there,” Kellogg said.
The star of the night just may have been senior Sydney Woodley, who shot 7 of 10 from the floor and finished with a game-high 15 points and five steals.
Woodley’s defensive game shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. She had 104 steals as a sophomore at Long Beach State. She transferred to WVU last season and filled a role as a defensive specialist coming off the bench.
Her role seems to be expanding these days.
“She has worked extremely hard,” Kellogg said. “I’ll give Woodley some props, she’s been in the gym all the time. She was in there all the time over the summer. She’s worked hard at it. I’m just happy to see offensively she’s taken on a little more of an identity and stayed aggressive. That will help us if she continues to do that.”
Even with the 42-point margin of victory, WVU’s offense was not exactly in midseason form. The Mountaineers connected on just 3 of 26 3-pointers. The difference was an amazing 60-4 advantage in points in the paint and WVU also had a 52-37 advantage on the boards.
Carter McCray, one of six newcomers to WVU’s roster this season, finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Sydney Shaw also had 14 points and Riley Makalusky came off the bench to add 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“I think that’s the first double-double of my life,” the transfer from Butler said.
Gabby Reep, a former standout at Bridgeport, led Fairmont State with 15 points, but the Falcons were held to just 21% (9 of 43) shooting from the floor.
Up next for the Mountaineers is a week of preparation before beginning the regular season. WVU will open up with Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 3
“This is going to take a minute,” Kellogg said. “We’re not going to have this all figured out in the next couple of weeks by any stretch. We’re still trying to identify roles and minutes and rotations. That’s going to be a work in progress.”
