MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In handling Oklahoma State from start to finish Saturday at Hope Coliseum, 19th-ranked West Virginia bolstered its postseason resume with a resounding 72-40 victory over a Cowgirls’ team all but assured of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
Factoring in that the opponent has 21 wins and 10 in the Big 12, it was unquestionably among the Mountaineers’ top performances this season. The victory allows WVU (22-6, 12-4) to stay squarely in the race for a Big 12 regular season championship.
“I don’t know that we ever use the term or statement win or that would ever come out of my mouth,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said when asked if he viewed the result as such. “Is it a good win? Yes. Is [Oklahoma State] a really quality basketball team? Yes. Were we good for longer stretches in this game? Yes. So there was really good stuff from this, but when you think statement or relax and you’re not going to focus on the next one, for us it’s process driven. We got one against a really good team at home, which we needed to get.”
League leader TCU is 12-3 in the conference and plays Sunday against Iowa State. While the Horned Frogs have the tiebreaker in the event of one with WVU by virtue of a pair of head-to-head wins, the Mountaineers would be assured of at least a share of the Big 12 title with a 2-0 finish over the next week and one TCU loss.
West Virginia next plays Wednesday at Central Florida before wrapping up the regular season next Sunday when it welcomes Cincinnati. The Mountaineers have defeated both this season, with the two teams combining for eight Big 12 victories, six of which the Bearcats account for.
“We still want a Big 12 title. If TCU were to lose and we have to split it multiple ways, that’s still a Big 12 title,” Kellogg said. “That’s goal one is always to be a Big 12 regular season championship and when you get done with that, there are other ones like getting a double bye in the Big 12 tournament. We’ve talked brackets and seedings, but not too worried about that. We really just want to win the next one but we understand all of those things. We’ve put ourselves in position to get to talk about it on February 21. That’s maybe the most exciting piece. We’re talking Big 12 titles with two games to go.”
The win over Oklahoma State was equally dominant on both ends, highlighted by 20 for 30 shooting in the first half with nine three-pointers. WVU scored the final 12 points of the half to lead 49-23 at the break, and its defense helped cool off the high-powered Cowgirls from the outset.
Oklahoma State entered among the more potent offenses in all of college basketball with an average of more than 83 points, but finished with more turnovers (16) than field goals (15) while shooting 23.1 percent.
At times, the Cowgirls simply missed clean looks. At others, they appeared overwhelmed.
“We were sped up. Their defense does that to everyone,” Cowgirls’ head coach Jacie Hoyt said.
It was a welcome sign for Kellogg, whose team has plenty to play for down the stretch and currently has a NET rating of 20.
“This time of year, I want them to be physically fresh and mentally excited and prepared of course,” he said. “If you can do that, you’re in a great spot in late February.”