WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The West Virginia Mountaineers (4-0) beat Northwestern, 66-53, in the opening game of the Greenbrier Tip-Off. Gia Cooke scored 22 and surpassed 1,000 career points. Zahirah “ZaZa” Walton added 16 points, including 10 points in the first quarter. The team shot 17% from three, but came out victorious on the back of their defense and free-throw shooting. The Mountaineers’ next game is against Akron on Tuesday, November 17, at 10:30 a.m. at Hope Coliseum. Read more: Gia Cooke notches 1,000 career points, WVU beast Northwestern 66-53 at the GoMart Greenbrier Tip-Off.
“We hadn’t seen a defense like what Northwestern threw at us, which will be good for us to kind of go through that,” Head coach Mark Kellogg said after the game. “I thought we got a little frustrated at times on the offensive end and let that carry over at times to what we were doing defensively.”
The team closed down the stretch, outscoring Northwestern 20-9 in the fourth quarter.
Walton’s hot start gets WVU rolling
Zahirah “ZaZa” Walton scored on a driving layup after West Virginia won the tip. She knocked down a three-pointer from the corner after a steal by Gia Cooke on the inbound. Northwestern’s Jasmyn Cooper-Derba scored the first points of the night for the Wildcats to make it 5-2.
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Walton scored again for seven early points off an assist from Kennedy Harris. Lexi Blue scored on a jump shot after a turnover by Skylar Forbes. She followed it with a three-pointer after Walton split a pair at the line, making it 8-7.
Cooke was fouled before the media timeout and came back to make both at the charity stripe. Walton made another layup to make it 12-7, giving her 10 points in the first quarter. Camdyn Nelson made a layup and got fouled by Cooke. She converted the free throw to make it 12-10.
Forbes got involved on offense with a baseline drive and score with 2:44 remaining in the quarter. Cooke made her defender fall and found Divine Tumba for a layup as the crowd erupted inside Colonial Hall. The Wildcats scored the final six points to tie the game before the end of the quarter, 16-16.
WVU turned defense into offense
Walton stayed hot after getting a breather at the end of the first quarter. She scored a fast-break layup after a block by Khyala Ngodu. Forbes provided another bucket off an assist from Ngodu to make it 20-16.
Harris added two more at the free-throw line after a steal by Ngodu, who was impacting every aspect of the game in the second quarter. The rim was tight for the Mountaineers from behind the arc. They only made one of their first 10 attempts from three.
Forbes finally got one to fall from the corner, after a Casey Harter old-fashioned three-point play on the other end. Tumba and Harris kept the play alive with an offensive rebound, and Harris found Forbes to make it 25-19.
After the media timeout, Lily Carmody made a layup to cut the lead to four. Cooke split a pair at the line to make it 26-21 with 3:51 remaining. Cooke made a pair at the line, and she has scored all of her points with 2:51 remaining in the half.
Nelson made three-of-four free throws over two possessions to make it 28-24. Walton also made two at the line, giving her 14 in the game. Cooper-Derba responded with a layup following an offensive rebound.
Nylah Wilson got in the scoring column with two free throws after Nelson picked up her second foul. Cooke scored on a driving layup to make it 34-26, but Northwestern responded with two baskets. Wilson got a steal near half-court with 17 seconds remaining, and WVU converted it into points at the buzzer. Ngodu put it in off the glass from the block to make it 36-30 at the break.
At the break
The Mountaineers shot 42% from the field in the first half. They only made two-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc. The Wildcats shot 44% from the field and made one-of-seven from three. Both teams had 16 rebounds. WVU turned 10 Northwestern turnovers into 17 points.
Walton led all scorers with 14 points, while Forbes and Cooke added seven each. Nelson led the Wildcats with eight points. Cooper-Derba added six points and a team-high five rebounds.
Northwestern battles back
Harter started the second half with a three-pointer for the Wildcats. Ngodu put back an offensive rebound to make it 38-33. Harter went coast-to-coast for another layup. After a Forbes missed three, Carmody nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game, 38-38. It prompted a timeout by WVU head coach Mark Kellogg.
Ngodu made one of two at the free-throw line out of the break to give WVU a one-point lead. Blue picked up her third foul, and Carmody picked up her third with 5:56 remaining in the quarter.
After a media timeout, Cooke knocked down a three-pointer, assisted by Walton. The Mountaineers forced a shot clock violation on the other end, and it led to a Ngodu layup off a nice entry pass from Walton.
Brooke Golden made a second-chance jump shot to cut the lead to four points. Carmody added two more at the line to make it 44-42 with 1:43 remaining in the third quarter.
Cooke earned a trip to the line and made both. Harter answered with a fast-break layup for Northwestern. The half ended with West Virginia failing to get a shot off before the buzzer. WVU led 46-44.
Cooke notches 1,000 career points
Cooke made the first basket of the final quarter to give the Mountaineers a 48-44 lead. Nelson responded with a putback layup.
Carmody made a layup after Wilson split a pair at the line, which made it 49-48. Tumba put back an offensive rebound to give WVU a three-point lead.
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After the media timeout, Kat Righeimer made a layup and was fouled by Forbes. She converted the and-one to tie the game at 51. Tumba made a second-chance layup to put WVU back on top by two. Cooke grabbed the next defensive rebound and ran the floor, finding Walton cutting to the basket to make it 55-51.
Cooke made the next basket on a driving layup, giving her 16 in the game and 1,000 career points. Northwestern called a 30-second timeout, and Nelson scored on a jump shot out of the break. Cooke responded with a three-pointer off an assist from Walton to extend the lead to seven with 2:16 remaining.
Tumba found Ngodu underneath for a basket, making it 62-53 with 1:24 left. Northwestern traveled on the following possession, nearly dashing any hopes of a comeback. Cooke got to the free-throw line and knocked down one.
Walton had two steals in the final 45 seconds, and WVU secured the victory at the free-throw line. WVU won 66-53.
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