No. 16 West Virginia Wins Thriller, Advances to the Big 12 Championship Semifinals

KANSAS CITY – No. 16 West Virginia erased a 12-point second quarter deficit and battled back in the second half in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship against No. 20 Kansas State. Junior guard Jordan Harrison led the charge in the second half for 17 of her 19 points and clutch play from senior guard JJ Quinerly produced a game-high 24 points to lead the Mountaineers (24-6) past the Wildcats (26-7) Friday afternoon 73-69.

West Virginia and Kansas State started the game off scorching hot. Kansas State shot a perfect 8-8 while the Mountaineers kept pace, shooting 5-6 from the field to keep the game tied at 18 with 3:48 left to play in the first quarter.

After JJ Quinerly hit a jumper to cut the K-State lead to two, the Mountaineers committed three turnovers during which the Wildcats produced eight of their 12 points off turnovers for, and finished the first quarter 13-15 from the field, including 5-6 from three for a 33-23.

West Virginia senior forward Kylee Blacksten buried a three to open the second quarter and freshman forward Jordan Thomas fought for a bucket at the rim to cap a 7-2 run to pull within five, 35-30, at the 6:32 mark.

Kansas State senior forward Kennedy Taylor responded, worked the post for consecutive lay-ins on her way to 12 first half points and sophomore guard Taryn Sides hit a three for a 7-0 run and a 12-point lead.

Quinerly slowed the Wildcats momentum with a three from the right wing, but Kansas State kept the Mountaineers at bay and took a 44-36 lead into halftime.

West Virginia pulled within five at the 6:39 mark after junior guard Sydney Shaw recorded back-to-back steal, leading to layups, for Harrison and Quinerly. Then, Harrison scored seven of her 11 third quarter points in the final four and a half minutes of the third to give West Virginia a 56-55 lead with four seconds on the clock.

However, senior forward Temira Poindexter banked in a deep three from the left wing as time expired to take a 58-56 Wildcats lead into the fourth quarter.

West Virginia took over to open the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run with Jordan Harrison scoring six straight for a 66-60 lead with 4:28 remaining in the game.

The Wildcats responded and Poindexter hit a three and Kennedy split a pair of free throws before following it up with a layup to grab a 69-67 lead.

Jordan Thoms tied the game with an offensive putback and Quinerly regained the Mountaineer lead with a tough floater in the paint with 45 seconds remaining in the game.

The Mountaineer defense forced a three from Poindexter, Shaw grabbed the round and finished the game from the line with a pair of free throws as West Virginia pulled off the comeback 73-69 to advance to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship.

West Virginia awaits the winner of Colorado and No. 8 TCU in the semifinals. Tip-off is set for Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.