MORGANTOWN — The West Virginia women’s basketball team in 2024 started Big 12 play with a loss to Colorado. Fast-forward a year later, and the Mountaineers completely rolled in their conference opener against Houston, 101-46, scoring 100 points for the second time this season.
After starting 0-1 in the Big 12 last year, WVU is now 1-0 this year.
“Half the teams in our league are going to be 1-0,” head coach Mark Kellogg said. “The other half are 0-1. It feels good to be on the better side of that.”
Now, WVU faces a tough Kansas squad, who is 10-3 on the year. The Jayhawks weren’t as fortunate to pick up a win in their first Big 12 game. Kansas lost to No. 10 Iowa State in its conference opener. But it was a close game, losing only by three on the road to a top-ranked team.
Kansas is a middle-of-the-pack team in the Big 12, ranking in the middle in both offense and defense. The Jayhawks are led by star guard S’Mya Nichols, who averages the third-most points per game in the conference with 20. Nichols has led her squad to Power Four wins over Missouri, Northwestern and Minnesota. She had 29 against the Cyclones and had a career-high 40 earlier this year against Georgia. Nichols is definitely a player to watch.
Kansas also excels from behind the arc. The Jaykawks are third in the conference in 3-point percentage, which is an area WVU struggles to defend.
The Mountaineers are riding a high heading into Lawrence on New Year’s Day. WVU’s hot performance against Houston concluded the first semester and a half of the season, meaning the strong Big 12 slate was on the other side.
WVU will have been off for 11 days. Some of those were off days, allowing the players to spend time with family and friends for the holidays.
“Another break for us,” Kellogg said. “Hopefully, we do what we’re supposed to do moving forward in the Big 12. It’s been a good first semester for us. We’ve gotten better. We’re continuing to get better, so I’m excited to see where this team goes.
But even in a big-time win, there’s still much to work on from the first half of the semester.
“I felt good,” Kellogg said of the win over Houston. “Other than, I thought we missed many late layups. If we could have finished, we would have felt better.”
WVU had its ups and downs in the first half, losing two games in a row as the only losses. Kellogg said it was especially nice to conclude the first half of the season, seeing so many of his players get involved. 10 different players scored a point, and six players were in double digits.
Guard Sydney Shaw was just a point off of tying a career-high, leading with 22.
“I think eventually I’m gonna break it,” Shaw said. “I don’t think I was like trying to beat it, if that makes sense. Whatever came to me, I was going to take. That’s just the player I am.”
It was a fun win, but now WVU faces Kansas, who should be fired up after a close road loss, hosting on New Year’s Day. It’ll be the first game of a two-game road trip for WVU to start the new year. It should be a much better game in Lawrence. Kellogg and the squad should feel good if they start Big 12 play 2-0.
“It’s not always going to look like this,” Kellogg said after the Houston win. “We fully understand that, but I think we’re taking some steps, and we’re getting to play a little bit harder.”