The No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers (16-3, 6-2) overwhelmed Arizona State (8-12, 2-6) with their aggressive defense on Wednesday, as the Sun Devils fell 89-59 to extend their losing streak to five.
The Mountaineers came out hot, as senior guard JJ Quinerly knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to give them a 12-2 lead and force an early Sun Devil timeout.
Following the timeout, West Virginia kept their foot on the gas pedal and ended the first quarter up 28-9. Through the first 10 minutes, it shot nearly 67% from the field.
ASU responded in the second quarter with an influx of energy on both ends of the court. They caused four turnovers and outscored the Mountaineers by six to cut into the deficit.
Junior forward Kennedy Basham provided the highlight of the quarter by delivering a monster block that turned into a transition layup by graduate senior guard Tyi Skinner.
Defense turns into offense 😈
— Sun Devil WBB (@SunDevilWBB) January 23, 2025
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Heading into the half, the Sun Devils cut the lead to 13 and trailed 36-23. Junior guard Kennedy Fauntleroy led the Sun Devils in scoring with 12 points, while Quinerly led the Mountaineers with 14 points.
In the third quarter, the pressure swamped the Sun Devils again. The Mountaineers brought out a relentless full-court press that caused a flurry of turnovers, as they seemed to get their hand in every passing lane.
All season long, West Virginia’s identity has remained on the defensive end of the floor. Before matching up with ASU, the Mountaineers forced nearly 26 turnovers a game and held their opponents to just 52.5 points per game.
West Virginia forced nine turnovers in the third quarter leading to numerous easy transition buckets. In total, the Mountaineers created 13 points off turnovers in the quarter.
“They turn teams over probably 20 plus times a game and you could see that tonight,” ASU head coach Natasha Adair said. “They had 24 points off turnovers, it kind of rattled us.”
In spite of the stifling defense, Sun Devil junior guard Jalyn Brown found her spots offensively and splashed two three-pointers to bring some juice to the offense.
Nonetheless, the Mountaineers took a 63-38 into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Sun Devils continued to find success behind the arc going 3-5. ASU shot nearly 60% from the field in the quarter, but it could not overcome the mountainous deficit, ultimately falling 89-59 to West Virginia.
The Mountaineers’ Wednesday night victory marked the 900th win in their women’s basketball program.
Quinerly scored a game-high 29 points on over 50% from the field for West Virginia, while Brown led the Sun Devils with 16.
On the other side, the loss pushes the Sun Devil’s losing streak to five as they continue to plummet down the Big 12 standings. With the regular season schedule dwindling, the Sun Devils now face an uphill battle if they hope to be dancing in March.
Throughout the season, the Sun Devils have shown moments of excellence, but they have struggled to put full games together.
“We want to continue to build off what we know is really good because we want to be playing out best basketball in March,” coach Adair said.
The Sun Devils return home on Saturday at 4 p.m. MST to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats (11-6, Big 12 3-4) at Desert Financial Arena.
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