The West Virginia Mountaineers opened Big 12 play against the Houston Cougars on Sunday, entering on a four-game win streak with a 10-2 overall record. After finishing fourth in the Big 12 this season and riding high on two consecutive wins against Power 5 opponents to end non-conference play, West Virginia was ready to make an impact to start their conference slate, and that is exactly what happened.
The WVU women ran away with the game from the first whistle, jumping out to 16-point lead at the end of the first quarter and never looking back as they wiped the court with the Cougars in a 101-46 victory. Here are some quick takeaways from the dominant victory.
Big 12 opponents will once again struggle with WVU's defense
The Mountaineers allowed Ohio State and Villanova to score 83 and 81 points, respectively, in back-to-back losses a few weeks ago, but otherwise, they have not let an opponent score more than 63 points this season. Their first Big 12 outing of the season continued to show that those two losses were exceptions, and not the rule.
WVU held to just 37 shot attempts and 15 made field goals, and forced 36 turnovers – which stands as a season-high for WVU in the five games against Power 5 competition they have played. Houston turned the ball over on over 46% of their possessions, and the Mountaineers scored 43 points off those turnovers. They also held the Cougars to just five fastbreak points. That type of defensive effort with carry the Mountaineers a long way.
Offensive efficiency impressive for West Virginia
The Mountaineers didn't just run up the score on Sunday, but did so in a quite efficient fashion. The Mountaineers were 36-70 shooting (51%) from the field, and went 11-of-23 from three-point range (48%). They also displayed an incredible job of making the extra pass to get those buckets, with assists on 21 of 36 field goals on the day. It's hard to score at a clip like that over 40 minutes of action, but the Mountaineers did it, with 10 of the team's 11 players registering at least one point. That type of depth and efficiency in scoring will also be a boon to WVU in conference play.
The Mountaineers find their stroke from three-point range
WVU isn't an awful three-point shooting team, but it's also not their biggest strength. They entered 79-of-246 (32 percent) from deep-range this season, but managed to knock down 11 three-pointers on 23 attempts on Sunday, which is just short of 50%. Most of that came from Sydney Shaw, who has been one of the team's primary scorers this year – she went 5-of-7 from three. But Riley Makalusky, who entered with just 10 made three-point shots this season after being one of Butler's better shooters during her freshman and sophomore season, surprised everyone, going 5-of-6 from behind-the-arc in just 15 minutes of play. That is the type of three-point shooting that can take this team from good to elite.