MORGANTOWN — West Virginia closed out its nonconference schedule Sunday with one of its roughest performances of the season.
That’s the not-so-good news. The better news is the Mountaineers’ defense forced Texas A&M into its lowest-scoring game of the season, as WVU walked out of Reed Arena with a 63-45 victory.
The Mountaineers (10-2) will enter Big 12 play next week on a four-game winning streak and coming off their first true road win of the season.
It was WVU’s defense that did the trick against the Aggies (6-2), who were forced into 24 turnovers and were held to just 34% (15 of 44) shooting. Texas A&M leading scorer, Ny’Ceara Pryor – averaging 17 points coming into the matchup – was held to just eight points on 2 of 8 shooting and she turned the ball over four times.
On the other side, West Virginia’s offense wasn’t exactly humming along.
WVU’s 63 points was its third-lowest total of the season and the Mountaineers turned the ball over 20 times and were held to 41% (24 of 58) shooting.
Good thing WVU was able to rebound the ball. That was a major difference against Texas A&M, as the Mountaineers finished with a 39-29 edge on the glass and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.
Kierra Wheeler led WVU with her fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Gia Cooke and Jordan Harrison each added 13 points and Sydney Shaw added 11 and nine rebounds. The Mountaineers did hit eight 3-pointers and led for 31 minutes.
WVU opens up Big 12 play at 2 p.m. Sunday, when the Mountaineers host Houston.
