West Virginia Rolls Lafayette to Improve to 6-0

Morgantown, WV – West Virgnia senior guard JJ Quinerly produced a game-high 19 points with four assists and senior guard Sydney Woodley produced 15 points and had five steals as the 13th-ranked Mountaineers (6-0) crushed the Lafayette Leopards (1-4) Friday night 98-28.

West Virginia senior guard Kyah Watson buried a corner three on the first attempt from the field, and freshman forward Jordan Thomas tipped the ball in the backcourt to Watson, who then dished it in the corner to junior guard Jordan Harrison for a corner three and the Mountaineers were off and running with the early 6-0 lead.

The Mountaineers stretched their run to 16-4, receiving threes from senior Kylee Blacksten and JJ Quinerly heading into the first half timeout. Quinerly extended the lead to 15 with his second three of the night out of the break and a free throw from Watson gave West Virginia a 20-4 lead with 3:58 left in the first quarter.

West Virginia held a 22-8 lead at the end of the first and started the second quarter working the ball into paint and getting to the free throw line with forward Tirzah Moore hitting a trio of free throws and an offensive putback for a 9-0 run and a 31-8 advantage with 6:44 remaining in the half.

West Virginia built its largest lead heading into halftime, ending the half on a 7-0 run for a 45-15 lead. Quinerly led all scorers with 11 points, while the Mountaineer defense forced 16 first half turnovers.

The Mountaineers continued their relentless effort in the second half. West Virginia outscored Lafayette 33-4 in the third quarter with an impressive 13-17 shooting from the floor, including 5-7 from three-point range for a 78-19 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

West Virginia held Lafayette without a field goal for 11 minutes and 21 seconds in the second half, assembling an 84-19 advantage before Lafayette senior guard Abby Antognoli ended the drought on a layup in transition with 5:32 left in the fourth quarter.

The Mountaineers never eased up on the Leopards, building their largest lead of 73 in the final minute of action before walking away with the 98-28 victory.