MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In its final game of the regular season against non-power conference competition, West Virginia put forth the second-highest scoring effort in Mark Kellogg’s three seasons as head coach.
Behind six double-figure scorers, the Mountaineers romped past Texas Southern 109-40 on Monday night at Hope Coliseum.
With contests on deck against Georgia Tech and Texas A&M before beginning Big 12 Conference play, WVU (8-2) dominated the final 31-plus minutes to have its way with the Tigers.
“After the first 6 or 7 minutes, we settled in,” said Kellogg, who celebrated his 50th birthday. “It’s not that we weren’t playing hard. We weren’t all on the same page. We can’t really be feast or famine with turnover or give up baskets. That’s not the way we want to play. It’s a work in progress.”
West Virginia made its last four field-goal attempts of the opening quarter, which it ended on an 8-0 spurt that featured two three-pointers from Sydney Shaw for a 26-16 lead.
“It looked better going up 10, but it wasn’t good those first 7 or 8 minutes for sure,” Kellogg said.
The Mountaineers made it 15 consecutive points altogether by building the advantage to 33-16 before the second quarter was 4 minutes old.
WVU forced 13 TSU turnovers in the second quarter and attempted 22 free throws, converting 18 in a 32-point frame that enabled the home team to hold a 58-26 halftime advantage.
“Offensively, we got what we wanted for the most of the night,” Kellogg said. “We’d like to see the threes to go in at a little bit higher clip [6 for 24 on Monday].
The Mountaineers enjoyed their highest-scoring quarter of the season in the third, amassing 34 points on 14-for-22 field-goal shooting to open up an even bigger lead. The catalyst was Kierra “MeMe” Wheeler, who made all six of her shots and poured in 14 points in the period, which WVU finished with a 92-37 lead.
“There were a few mismatches. We knew that going into the game,” Wheeler said. “I didn’t start off well. Coach sat me down and allowed me to readjust myself knowing my presence was needed.”
Texas Southern (3-5) made only one fourth-quarter field goal and finished with 35 turnovers, which the Mountaineers turned into 54 points.
Wheeler led six WVU double-figure scorers with a season-high 23 points.
Jordan Harrison added 17 points to surpass 1,000 in her time at WVU, with this season marking her third in a Mountaineer uniform.
“I knew in the beginning of the season that I was going to eventually get it,” Harrison said. “I had no idea it was going to happen this close or in this game.
“I’m glad to have my name in the book on that. It’s great.”
Gia Cooke scored 14, Sydney Woodley and Carter McCray added 12 apiece and Shaw contributed 11 in the victory.
Starting center Jordan Thomas was not in uniform and was with the team on the bench in street clothes.
“It’s day to day,” Kellogg said. “We anticipate her to be back soon.”
Daeja Holmes and Taliyah Logwood led the Tigers with 12 points apiece.
