The WVU Coliseum in Morgantown was the scene for a bittersweet celebration on Saturday. No. 18 West Virginia women’s basketball hosted Senior Day, honoring six women who are quickly approaching the end of their careers with the old-gold-and-blue.
The Mountaineers waltzed to a win over Cincinnati behind a Herculean effort from one of those six seniors in guard J.J. Quinerly. The ladies then commemorated what will be one of the final home contests at the Coliseum for a number of them with the time-tested tradition of singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with the fans while some shared embraces with their families and posed for picture with children in the arena.
There were a lot of strong emotions weighing on the program throughout the day -- from pre-game warmups to the first whistle to the final buzzer, Senior Day is always a big moment.
“There’s always emotion with that one, sometimes too much emotion depending on who you are,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg said. “I’ve never had six of them either, so that just presents a little bit of a different challenge. But I’m always happy for them and you always want to win on Senior Day.
While Quinerly described some of the emotions as “excitement,” there were also laughter and tears throughout the Coliseum on Saturday. And with the combination of anticipation, happiness, and wistfulness could make it hard for some players to focus, the Mountaineers were able to shed the hefty emotions when it was time to get down to business.
“It wasn’t that hard, I think it kind of fired us up a little bit,” Quinerly said in the postgame press conference.
Quinerly’s big-time effort saw her drop 29 points in the win -- it ties her second-best scoring performance on the season and propels her to fifth all-time in program history in total points scored. Quinerly entered the game needing just 19 points to achieve that milestone.
“It means a lot to me to see my family here, a lot of my family here, to see me do what I’ve wanted to do my entire life,” Quinerly told ESPN. “I couldn’t ask for anything else.
The Mountaineers are back in action at the WVU Coliseum on Monday with a nationally televised president’s Day Top 25 clash with No. 14 Kansas State. Tip-off is set for 2 P.M EST.