MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In an impressive performance, JJ Quinerly led the No. 18 West Virginia Mountaineers to a decisive 69-50 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday, contributing 29 points to the team’s success.
The Mountaineers established momentum by scoring the last six points of the second quarter, taking a six-point advantage into halftime. They continued this trend by opening the third quarter with seven unanswered points, extending their lead to 34-21. Following a Cincinnati basket, West Virginia launched an impressive 11-point run that increased their lead to 45-23.
During this dominant stretch, Quinerly remarkably scored 10 points, while teammate Sydney Shaw also shined, tallying all nine of her points during the crucial third quarter. With his performance, Quinerly made history by moving into fifth place on the school’s all-time scoring list, amassing a total of 1,829 points. Notably, he was the only Mountaineer to reach double figures in scoring for the game. The defense of West Virginia was relentless, as they forced 24 turnovers, converting them into 23 points, while limiting Cincinnati to a mere 32% shooting efficiency.
For the Bearcats, Jillian Hayes stood out, scoring 20 points and securing 10 rebounds. Cincinnati had initially taken a narrow lead of 21-20 late in the first half, but the Mountaineers responded vigorously with a 3-pointer from Destiny Agubata, followed by a fast-break layup from Sydney Woodley, and a jumper from Quinerly that concluded the half with them leading 27-21.
West Virginia kicked off the game with a 10-0 run, finishing the first quarter with a 14-7 lead. In contrast, the Bearcats struggled during the initial half, shooting at only 37% and committing 14 turnovers, while West Virginia struggled from beyond the arc, hitting only 1 of 9 attempts and not getting a single free-throw opportunity.
As the third quarter began, Cincinnati faltered, starting the period by making just 1 of their first 9 shot attempts and struggling with five turnovers before finding some rhythm in the last three minutes. Looking ahead, No. 14 Kansas State is set to face West Virginia on Monday, while the Bearcats will take on Texas Tech on Wednesday.
