No. 16 West Virginia Takes Care of Business in the Desert

Tempe, AZ – Senior guard JJ Quinerly led all scorers with 29 points and senior forward Kylee Blacksten recorded a career-high 24-points to lead the No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers (16-3, 6-2) past the Arizona State Sun Devils (8-12, 2-6) for the program’s 900th victory Wednesday night 89-59.

West Virginia opened the game on a 12-2 run. Junior guard Jordan Harrison drove to the basket on consecutive possessions, giving WVU a four-point lead after a contested layup, then drew the foul for a pair of free throws and JJ Quinerly led the way with a pair of threes.

The Mountaineers held a 19-point lead after ending the first quarter with 14-2 run. Quinerly hit a short-range jumper and got out in transition for a lay-in to cap off a 10-point first quarter, while junior guard Sydney Shaw buried two threes for the 28-9 advantage.

West Virginia led by as many as 20 early in the second quarter, but after shooting 10-15 from the field, including 4-6 from three-point range, the Mountaineers went cold and shot 3-13 from the floor. Arizona State adjusted to the West Virginia pressure and cut the WVU lead to 12.

Quinerly ended a four-minute scoring drought to put the Mountaineers up 14 with 1:45 remaining in the half and West Virginia took a 36-23 lead into halftime.

The West Virginia forced four turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half while senior for Kylee Blacksten buried a three as part of five straight, and the defense held the Sun Devils to three points while as part of a 15-3 run to stretch the lead to twenty-five, 51-26 at the 3:51 mark of the third quarter.

Kylee Blacksten buried a three to cap a 13-point third quarter for 22 points of the game, breaking her previous high of 20 set just over a year ago at Kansas State. Harrison followed with a jumper to build a 29-point advantage, but Arizona State ended the quarter with a 4-0 spurt as the Mountaineers held a 63-38 lead through three quarters of play.

West Virginia continued its pace in the fourth quarter, quickly stretching the lead to 30 and leading by as many as 35 points as the Mountaineers overwhelmed the Sun Devils for the 89-59 win.