No. 4 seed WVU Women’s Basketball (28-6) handled No. 13 seed Miami (OH) in Saturday’s 82-54 first round victory. The climb to the mountaintop gets steeper when the Mountaineers play No. 5 seed Kentucky (24-10) for a spot in the Sweet 16. Read more: Five games to glory: WVU Women’s Basketball second round preview (UK).
Monday’s contest features two programs which have battled before, most recently in December 2021. Of the four all-time matchups, three have been in Lexington, Kentucky, along with one on neutral grounds. UK leads the series, 3-1.
WVU aims to reach the Sweet Sixteen for just the second time in program history, while UK searches for its seventh berth.
First round triumphs
Both programs took care of their respective first round games at Hope Coliseum on Saturday with moderate ease. The Mountaineers controlled the Redhawks from bell to bell, and UK did the same to James Madison. The Wildcats built a 19-2 cushion to start the game that got the job done early. One coach took notice in preparation for his own.
“We obviously have assistants assigned to scouting reports so they were probably going to be a little more depth than I was,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said of watching Kentucky play JMU. “But it’s different when you watch people play live, so you’re just trying to pick up on some tendencies, and what does it look like in real time as opposed to film.”
WVU relied on the trio of Sydney Shaw (19), Gia Cooke (18), and Jordan Harrison (15) to make up 52 of its 82 points. UK’s Tonie Morgan lit up the floor in the matinee against JMU, finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
Both programs proved why they earned the seeds they did in the first round.
Related: WVU rolls over Miami in front of a sold-out crowd
Neither team is new to March Madness, anyway. They have been here before. When combined, WVU and UK have made 36 NCAA tournament appearances.
Coaching matchup for the ages
Before getting to the on-court tale of the tape, coaches must be talked about. WVU fans know Mark Kellogg’s stellar background, but UK head coach Kenny Brooks deserves his flowers.
Brooks is the reigning 2025 The Sporting News National Coach of the Year, a JMU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee (2022), and has 564 head coaching wins.
The 57-year old took Virginia Tech to the Final Four in 2022-23, and most recently got the Wildcats into the second round last year. Since Brooks took the reins in the Bluegrass State, UK is 47-18.
On-court prowess
Beyond the aforementioned Morgan, UK touts playmakers aplenty.
An offense averaging 75.5 points per game needs its personal firepower. Clara Strack (16.9 PPG) followed coach Brooks from VT to UK, leading the charge. Morgan (13.9), Teonni Key (11.2), Amelia Hassett (10.7), and Asia Boone (10.1) round out the heavy hitters.
Back to Strack. Not only is she the leading scorer, but the former Hokie is the top rebounder (10.1 per game). The 6’5 star averages a 16-point double-double with an SEC schedule…
WVU has its hands full, but so does UK.
Meme Wheeler and Carter McCray must prepare to get physical in the paint, but they are more than capable. The duo combines to average 13 RPG.
Harrison is the x-factor of it all, though. Both sides of the game benefit from her efficiency, as she leads the teams in assists (174) and steals (104).
On paper, this is about as good of a second round matchup one can find anywhere.
Tune in
A spot in the Sweet 16 hangs in the balance when West Virginia and Kentucky take the court Monday. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. inside Hope Coliseum in Morgantown.
Tune in to 100.9 FM The Torch or any of its nine affiliate stations across the John Fredericks Media Network for play-by-play coverage. ESPN2 has the TV broadcast.
WV Sports Nation staff writer Trent Conner and chief photographer Santana Withrow are ready to bring you live updates and post-game analysis, along with photos from the action.
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