WVU women's basketball was ready to follow up one upset with another, even bigger upset on Wednesday night – but just couldn't close the deal.
The Mountaineers returned to Morgantown after knocking off the then-No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones on Sunday (who subsequently dropped to No. 19) to face No. 10 TCU, and rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to storm back and take the lead, and with just ten seconds remaining in the game, the Mountaineers led by three points and appeared to have the game won. But a missed free throw and a buzzer-beater three-pointer sunk their dreams and sent the fans at Hope Coliseum home disappointed. Here are three takeaways from the 51-50 loss.
The Mountaineers Can Play With The Best In The Country
West Virginia (14-4, 4-2) was left out of the AP Top 25 again this week after an upset win over a team ranked 11th in the nation at the time, and a five-point loss to Texas Tech, the 17th-ranked team nationally. This continued a 1 1/2 month streak of missing the poll after dropping out of the poll following back-to-back losses in non-conference play.
But make no mistake about it – while this loss may keep them from the poll again next week, this team can play with the best teams in the nation. And that fact was as clear against TCU as it was against Iowa State and Texas Tech.
While the Villanova blowout loss doesn't look good, it appears to be an outlier. They battled to the wire against Ohio State and lost by two points on a neutral court – the Buckeyes, by the way, are currently ranked No. 14 nationally. For those keeping track, that's three of WVU's four losses coming to No. 10, No. 14, and No. 17 by a combined eight points. They also own a win over a fringe Top 25 team in Duke, who was ranked at the time of the win and currently is tied with the Mountaineers as the first team outside the Top 25.
It must be heartbreaking for the Mountaineers to continuously fail to close out these opportunities, with the exception of the Iowa State win, and eventually a solution must come to that problem. But we're still talking about a team that on any given night is going to be able to take on the top teams in the country and be within a possession or two of a win come the closing minutes. Figure out how to finish these games, and you could easily be a Top 10 team.
Every Free Throw Counts
Listen, when you take 24 free throws in a game, there are likely to be at least a few misses. And wile 79 percent might not be the most impressive number to see for a team's free throw percentage on a stat sheet, 19-of-24 isn't neccessarily something you'll always complain about at the charity stripe.
But when Jordan Harrison had a pair of foul shots and the opportunity to put the Mountaineers up by three points with just two seconds to play in the game, she missed one of those shots. And on the ensuing play, the Horned Frogs sunk the winning shot at the buzzer from behind-the-arc. TCU, by the way, went a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Sadly for Harrison and for the Mountaineers, you have to be as close to perfect as possible in a game against this level of competition that's so closely contested, and WVU just wasn't perfect enough with their foul shooting on Wednesday to get the job done.
Jordan Harrison Continues Her Momentum
Many expected Jordan Harrison to fill into the role left open by the departure of J.J. Quinerly, given her experience as a four-year player inside the program and her maintainng a double-digit scoring average throughout her entire career entering her senior season.
At times, however, Harrison appeared to be overshadowed by players such as Sydney Shaw and Gia Cooke at time this season when it came to offensive presence and inheriting a true floor general role. But in her most recent outings, Harrison has look quite impressive, and Wednesday was no different.
Harrison finished the game against TCU with 19 points, six rebounds, two assists, and one steal, and her scoring effort was crucial to the Mountaineers mounting their comeback and keeping the game competitive. After her big performances against Iowa State and Texas Tech, she now has 60 points, 16 rebounds, 15 assists, and nine steals in her last three outings.