MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Winners of five of its last six games, West Virginia’s recent success will be challenged in a big way Wednesday night as the Mountaineers welcome No. 24 Texas to the WVU Coliseum for a 7 p.m. affair.
The contest, which can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, is the first of two guaranteed meetings between the teams this season. The Longhorns (16-6, 7-2) are looking to stay atop the Big 12, while the Mountaineers (14-5, 5-3) can build off momentum sustained throughout a successful January in which they won five of seven games to ascend in the conference standings.
“They score it at the rim really well. They shoot from the arc and offensive rebound and keep it alive at a really high clip,” said WVU head coach Dawn Plitzuweit. “They score at a 48 percent clip and average 15 offensive rebounds. That’s really impressive. They keep so many things alive. Defensively, they are one of the elite of the elites. They can speed you up, block you at the rim and take charges. They do a lot of things really well.”
The Mountaineers won Saturday at TCU, overcoming the absence of point guard Madisen Smith to wrap up a regular season sweep of the Horned Frogs with a 62-55 triumph.
Sophomore guard JJ Quinerly led all players with 23 points, connecting on 10-of-18 shots and stepping up down the stretch after WVU began the fourth quarter with a 41-38 lead.
“JJ is a great player and I knew she was going to be able to pull it out for us and make big plays,” Smith said. “I talked to her right before the fourth quarter and told her it was time to make some plays, make things happen and be aggressive on defense. She did that and I was really proud of her for that.”
Smith, who missed the matchup in Fort Worth with a sprained ankle suffered in practice, confirmed she will return Wednesday to face Texas.
While Quinerly is averaging a team-high 13.9 points, Smith is second with a scoring average of 12.9 and leads the team in minutes per game at 32.1, 3-pointers with 41 and assists with 59. Smith’s 28 steals trail only Quinerly’s 41.
Smith started each of WVU’s first 18 games before missing the most recent one.
“Certainly a big challenge to be in a situation where we’re playing without a lead guard and our young ladies found a way on the road to defend at a really high level,” Plitzuweit said. “We didn’t take care of the ball the way we wanted to in some situations and had a couple tough breaks and things go against us, but we really rallied and remained poised when it was challenging at times.”
Danni Nichols, who started in place of Smith for the first time since her offseason arrival at WVU, felt the victory at TCU was a display of growth that the Mountaineers could win not being at their best and without a key player.
“It shows a lot about us that we can push through adversity,” Nichols said, “and find a way to figure things out together as a team.”
Still, the return of Smith is welcomed and gives the Mountaineers a full compliment of players for what is sure to be a tough test in the Longhorns.
Texas has won three straight and five of six, and since an 86-82 loss at Oklahoma State on January 7, the Longhorns have not allowed 70 points over their last six contests.
A balanced scoring attack is led by 5-foot-10 guard Shaylee Gonzales, who’s averaging 12.2 points. DeYona Gaston, a 6-2 forward, follows at 11.9, narrowly ahead of 5-10 guard Sonya Morris’ 11.8 average.
Rori Harmon, a 5-6 point guard, is at 11.4 points and ranks No. 4 nationally with an average of 7.3 assists. Harmon, who also adds 2.5 steals, missed each of the first five games this season with an injury, but the Longhorns are 14-3 with her in the lineup. She posted a triple-double in a victory over TCU back on January 4.
“Harmon is really special,” Plitzuweit said. “Not only can she create on the defensive end, but she does such a good job creating on the offensive end, not only for herself, but for her teammates. She gets to the rim and makes a lot of things happen in that midrange game. On top of that, she plays almost 40 minutes every single game. You know that she’s going to keep coming at you. There’s not really a reprieve in that regard.”
Taylor Jones and Khadija Faye, a pair of 6-4 forwards, give UT plenty of paint production to help make up for the loss of 6-1 forward Aaliyah Moore, who played nine games before being sidelined for the season with a torn ACL.
Jones is averaging 9.8 points and 5.1 rebounds, while Faye shoes 6.3 points and a team-high 5.4 boards.
“When you look at their team overall, just about every position has a kid up that is up for some national award,” Plitzuweit said.
In addition to Quinerly and Smith, Jayla Hemingway gives WVU a third double-figure scorer at 10.2 points to go with her team-best 6.1 rebounding average.
The Mountaineers and Longhorns are both holding opponents to a shooting percentage of 37.7.
“They’re a really aggressive defensive team and they play full court pressure man,” Smith said. “We have to be smart with the ball and use their aggressiveness against them. Slow the game down and not force anything.”
Wednesday’s matchup is a prime opportunity for West Virginia to enhance its postseason resume with a marquee victory.
Entering Tuesday’s action, ESPN’s Charlie Creme has the Mountaineers as the second team out of the NCAA Tournament, while Texas is projected a No. 5 seed. West Virginia’s Net Ranking is 70, while Texas is 10.
“There’s a lot of season left. Ten games is a lot of time,” Plitzuweit said. “We have to focus on who we are and how we have to continue to get better. That’s what we’re looking at.”