WVU women fall short against Kansas State
No. 16 Kansas State survived a furious finish led by JJ Quinerly to beat West Virginia, 65-62, in the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship quarterfinals in Kansas City.
It had to take 15 minutes to play the final minute and a half of the game as the officials spent more time at the scorer’s table reviewing plays and setting the clock than the players spent on the floor, but it was that kind of game with two teams so even that it had to be decided by an inch.
Trailing 65-62 with 2.2 seconds left following a long review on a possession call, the Mountaineers put the ball in Quinerly’s hand and the game’s leading scorer with 27 points launched a rushed corner 3 that seemed to go down into the hoop and come out.
So close yet so far in a game between two teams that had gone to overtime in their first meeting, also won by the Wildcats.
In a way, the loss may be a blessing for a WVU team that has scrapped and battled all season to win 24 games in coach Mark Kellogg’s first season, but now gets to rest up, heal the wounded and get ready for play in the NCAA Championships, where they probably will draw a No. 6 seed.
While Ayoka Lee, K-State’s talented pivot player, was dominant inside in a game where the Wildcats outscored the Mountaineers 42-20 in the paint, the ultimate difference was made by Gabby Gregory, who scored only 11 points but who hit 3 3-point shots in the second half at a time when Lee was in foul trouble and WVU was doing an improved job of seeing that she didn’t get the ball.
Each team had a super star, WVU’s being Quinerly and Kansas State’s Lee, and the first half came down to almost a shootout between the two of them.
It didn’t take long for Quinerly, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, to assert herself. Lee won the tip for K-State but almost immediately Quinerly stole it away and scored. Only six seconds had ticked off the clock.
And early on she was the foundation upon which the Mountaineers built a 12-point lead at 23-11. She had 8 of the Mountaineers’ first 11 points and seemed as if she might control the entire game.
But, when that lead reached 12 points, K-State decided it was time to emphasize Lee’s huge size difference inside.
Each time down the floor they got it into her and she always seemed to have perfect position and just laid the ball in. She scored the final 6 points of the first quarter, meaning WVU went to the break with a 23-17 lead.
But the clouds were gathering because WVU had no defensive answer for Lee, whose 19.2 scoring average already is the highest in a single season in the Wildcats’ history.
Lee rested up early in the second half as WVU’s shooting went cold, but when they went back to her inside, she had all the answers.
A basket by Lee with 2:06 left in the half gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game, and after Quinerly countered that with a pair of free throws, the Mountaineers briefly reclaimed the advantage by a point.
Lee, however, could not miss as she was shooting from a foot or less away from the hoop and led the Wildcats to a 34-31 halftime lead.
Quinerly accounted for 14 points to lead WVU at the half but Lee, who scored 35 in K-State’s overtime win in the only meeting of the regular season with WVU, had 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting, hitting all 4 free throws while claiming 8 rebounds.
K-State was hitting at 60% from the field in the first half and all of it was from up close, outscoring WVU 30-10 in the paint.
Early in the third quarter, it appeared that Kansas State was going to break it open, their zone confusing WVU and their shots falling.
Lee, however, picked up her third foul and went to the bench, and that was when Quinerly took control and the pressing defense came back to life. Down 10, Quinerly hit a 3 and then a free throw, then made a nifty feed to Kaya Watson for a basket.
That lit Watson’s fire, coming up with a steal with 10.5 seconds left in the third quarter, and then hitting two free throws. Moments later there was another steal by Watson, who quickly got the ball to Quinerly to can a 3 and all of a sudden it was a one-point game going into the fourth quarter.
Quinerly came out gunning and retook the lead for WVU with a 3 at 51-49, a shot that was countered by a Lee basket to tie the score.
But Gregory, who was coming to life, canned her second 3 of the game before Lee had to go the bench with her fourth foul.
The door was open for WVU but Gregory said “not so fast,” hitting yet another 3 and the Wildcats had breathing room at 57-51.
But Jayla Hemingway nailed a clutch 3 to make it a 3-point game and set the stage for a furious finish in which Quinerly’s desperation 3 at the buzzer narrowly missed.