Mark Kellogg’s inaugural season as the head coach of the West Virginia women’s basketball came to an end as the Mountaineers fell to No. 1 Iowa 64-54.
West Virginia jumped out to an early 11-5 lead after a pair of three pointer from the Mountaineers, but Iowa would not back down.Iowa would end the first quarter on a 15-4 run behind a trio of three pointers from Caitlin Clark who would finish the game with 32 points.
In the second quarter West Virginia would hold Iowa to just six points, the lowest they have scored in a single quarter all season long. West Virginia would outscore Iowa 9-6 in the second quarter to head to the locker room trailing 26-24.
Iowa would start the third quarter off hot, jumping out to 38-26 lead just five minutes into the quarter.
West Virginia would follow this up by going on a run of their own, cutting the Hawkeye lead to 40-38.
Iowa would end the quarter on an 8-0 run to go into the fourth quarter leading 48-38.
The Mountaineers would control the complete first five minutes of the fourth quarter, immediately going on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 48-48.
Both teams would trade baskets with each other, tying the game at 52 with just under 3 minutes to play, but that would be the end for the Mountaineers.
The final 3 minutes of play saw Iowa go on a 12-2 run with nine of the points coming from the free throw line. Iowa finished the game taking 30 trips to the free throw line compared to just five trips for the Mountaineers. The Mounatineers were called for 27 fouls compared to 11 on the Hawkeyes.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark ended with 32 points on 8-for-22 shooting, and went 5-for-14 from three. WVU’s JJ Quinerly had 15 points and fouled out in the closing minutes, as she shot 6-for-14 from the field and went 3-for-6 from three.
WVU forced 15 turnovers leading to 19 points, while the Mountaineers turned the ball over only nine times. WVU shot 34 percent from the field, and went 9-for-34 from three. Iowa shot 36 percent from the field, making five of their 22 three-point attempts.
West Virginia finished their season with a record of 25-8 and an exit in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
A Chicago resident and women’s basketball fan. I watched the game. West Virginia’s defense was amazing, and they dictated the play the entire night. Iowa was forced to rely on their own defense and rebounding to win the game. It was a great game. The referees were also amazing as the tight defense on both sides made it a challenging game to referee. They let the women play and a lot of bodies hit the hardwood.
West Virginia should be proud of themselves.