MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia took care of business in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Miami (OH). They won 82-54 in front of a sold-out crowd at Hope Coliseum in Morgantown, WV. The Mountaineers had four starters in double digits and spread the scoring well. WVU plays Kentucky at Hope Coliseum in the round of 32 on Monday, March 23. Read more: WVU rolls over Miami in front of a sold-out crowd.
The Mountaineers shot the ball well and were led by Sydney Shaw. Shaw went 6-12 from the floor, had two and-ones, and made 2-4 three-pointers. She is the catalyst of the offensive explosion against Miami, and Harrison did a great job of distributing the ball.
“I thought she was really, really good,” Coach Mark Kellogg said of Shaw’s performance. “As Jordan alluded to earlier, she’s probably known a little more for her three-point shooting and maybe some of her mid-range game, but there is an ability to get to the rim.”
The Mountaineers also shot well from the free-throw line. They went 11-13 (84.6%), which was well above their season average of 70.5.%. That is an area they must excel at as competition gets tougher.
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First quarter
The Mountaineers won the opening tip and scored at the end of the shot clock with a driving layup by Gia Cooke. Miami scored its first bucket of the game and tied the game with a layup by Amber Tretter. Jordan Harrison scored her first basket on a driving layup, but the Redhawks answered with a layup by Ilse de Vries.
Sydney Shaw knocked down the first three-pointer of the game off an assist from Harrison. Kierra Wheeler scored on WVU’s next possession on a layup off a Harrison assist. Tamar Singer scored on Miami’s first possession following the first media timeout. Harrison answered with a layup of her own, to make the score 11-6 in favor of WVU.
Related: Mountaineers rally from five down to top BYU, 12-10
The Redhawks responded with a three-pointer from Tretter and gained the lead with a three-pointer from Nuria Jurjo. Singer extended Miami’s lead to 14-11 with a second-chance layup, but Shaw tied the game with a three-pointer from the corner.
The steals started to pile up for WVU in the final minute of the first quarter. Shaw got the first steal and found Wheeler on the block. Wheeler found a cutting Célia Rivière for a layup. She also got the second steal and found Harrison for the layup. Wheeler got the third steal and found Harrison again to give WVU a 20-14 lead. Harrison made a step-back jumpshot at the buzzer, which gave the Mountaineers an eight-point lead.
Second quarter
Wheeler went to the free-throw line on WVU’s first possession in the second period. She converted both to give WVU a 10-point lead. Sydney Woodley got a steal, and Shaw found her on the fast break as the senior makes an immediate impact off the bench. Harrison drove in the lane and found Wheeler with a bounce pass for a layup. Miami responded with its first basket of the quarter via a Singer layup.
Tretter got to the line for the Redhawks, but missed both. Cooke responded by getting to the line on the other end. She made both free throws to give WVU a 30-16 lead. Tretter made a three-pointer for Miami, giving her eight points.
The Redhawks scored on a second-chance layup by de Vries out of the media timeout. Rivière and Wheeler worked well in high-low action as Rivière scored a layup with a drop-step. Amber Scalia made two free throws for Miami to get back within nine points. Shaw earned a trip to the line for three free throws after getting fouled on a shot at the end of the shot clock. She made all three to give WVU a 35-23 lead.
Harrison found Cooke in the corner after pushing the ball off a defensive rebound. Cooke knocked down the shot to extend the lead to 15. Wheeler got a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup with 42 seconds remaining. Miami made a three-pointer off the hand of de Vries with 12 seconds remaining to make it 40-26 at halftime.
At the break
Harrison leads WVU with 10 points on 5-8 shooting. Shaw had nine points and three rebounds. Wheeler had eight points, four rebounds, and three steals. Cooke had seven points as the Mountaineers scored evenly in the first half. WVU made 51.7% from the field and 50% from behind the arc. They had eight steals and 14 points off turnovers.
Tretter had eight points for the Redhawks in the first half. She made 3-7 field goals and 2-4 from three. Singer had six points, while de Vries had seven points and five rebounds. Miami shot 40% from the field and from three.
Third quarter
Carter McCray scored the first bucket of the second half off a feed from Wheeler. Wheeler made a layup of her own following an offensive rebound by Harrison. Cooked made it three straight baskets for WVU with a fast break layup after a Harrison steal. McCray scored again off an assist from Wheeler, as WVU started the second half on an 8-0 run. run.
The Redhawks ended the scoring drought with a layup from de Vries. Harrison came right back with a three-pointer off an assist from Cooke to make it 51-28. Tretter made a jump shot to give Miami 30 points. Scalia made another jumper on Miami’s next possession. Shaw made a reverse layup to get the lead back to 21, but Scalia answered with a three-pointer before a timeout by Miami.
Wheeler made a second-chance layup out of the timeout to push the lead back to 20. Miami answered with a de Vries three-pointer, which Cooke matched on the other end. Shaw made a layup and was fouled as the crowd erupted. She converted the free throw to give WVU a 61-38 lead.
Cooke made a three-pointer off an assist from Harrison, and Tretter responded with an and-one layup. Shaw made another layup of her own and was fouled again. She converted the free throw to extend the lead to 26 points. Harrison held the ball for the final shot of the quarter and made a driving layup as time expired to give WVU a 69-41 lead.
Fourth quarter
Wheeler made the first points of the final quarter with a layup assisted by Cooke. Singer fired back with a layup of her own, and Rivière responded with a layup. Shaw extended the WVU lead to 32 points with a jump shot with a little over six minutes remaining. Woodley made one of two free throws to make the score 76-43.
Mio Sakano made one of two free throws off the bench for Miami. Riley Makalusky followed with a three-pointer, her first basket of the game. Cooke made a layup and was fouled. She converted the free throw, which allowed Madison Parrish to sub in for her.
Singer made one of two free throws with a little over two minutes remaining as the Redhawks’ season was nearing its end. Scalia knocked down a three-pointer for Miami to give them 50 points. Scalia made two free throws before leaving the floor for the last time in her collegiate career. WVU won the game 82-54.
Top performers
- J. Harrison (WVU): 15 points/8 assist/4 rebounds/2 steals
- S. Shaw (WVU): 19 points/9 rebounds/1 assist/1 steal
- G. Cooke (WVU): 18 points/1 rebound/2 assists
- K. Wheeler (WVU): 14 points/9 rebounds/4 assists/3 steals
What’s next?
WVU plays Kentucky, which won and beat James Madison in the first game at Hope Coliseum. The game is scheduled for Monday, March 23, at a time to be announced.
All Mountaineer basketball games are broadcast across the John Fredericks Media Network. The game will air on 100.9 FM The Torch and its nine affiliate stations.
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