March Madness: Qunierly’s 27 points lifts No. 6 West Virginia to 78-59 win over 11th-seed Columbia
March Madness: Qunierly’s 27 points lifts No. 6 West Virginia to 78-59 win over 11th-seed Columbia
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — JJ Quinerly scored 27 points, including the 2,000th of her career, Jordan Harrison matched a career-high with 23 and sixth-seeded West Virginia led wire-to-wire in a 78-59 victory over 11th-seeded Columbia on Saturday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Quinerly also had seven of the Mountaineers’ 17 steals.
The Mountaineers (25-7) advance to face the winner of No. 3 North Carolina and No. 14 Oregon State on Monday. West Virginia will be looking for its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1992.
“Excited to advance, obviously. That’s the name of the game this time of year,” West Virginia coach Mark Kellogg said. “I thought for the most part, we were pretty good.”
West Virginia’s full-court press was a constant source of frustration for Columbia, which was coming off its first tournament win in program history. The Lions committed 11 turnovers in the first quarter, more than they had in all of Thursday’s First Four win over Washington, and 25 overall.
“For us, it’s just fun,” Quinerly said of playing defense. “Honestly, we love running around.”
Columbia (24-7) was led by Cecelia Collins’ 16 points. Riley Weiss scored 14, and Kitty Henderson contributed 13 points and nine rebounds.
West Virginia started fast, sinking its first five shots, including a pair of Harrison 3s, to go up 12-5. The Mountaineers finished the quarter shooting 71.4% from the field (10-of-14) while outscoring Columbia 24-15.
The lead only grew from there. West Virginia used a 12-2 run in the second quarter to stretch its lead to 39-16 and rolled into the half up 46-29. Its largest lead of the game was 22 points.
“West Virginia’s a great team and a super unique team in the women’s game,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said. “They do what not a lot of teams do, especially defensively. March Madness is who can make the other team the most uncomfortable, and I thought that they did that successfully.”
Takeaways
Columbia: The Lions struggled to match the physicality of the Mountaineers, who overwhelmed them 48-20 in the paint.
West Virginia: The top-ranked defense in the Big 12 played to its strengths, frustrating Columbia from the jump. West Virginia turned 15 first-half turnovers into 15 points, building a lead it wouldn’t let slip.
Key moment
Columbia went scoreless for a stretch of 5 minutes, 28 seconds in the first half as West Virginia ripped off 12 straight points.
Up next
West Virginia will play the winner of No. 3 North Carolina and No. 14 Oregon State on Monday.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
By DOUG BONJOUR
Associated Press
