The West Virginia Women’s Basketball team is set to take on the Wright State Raiders on Monday, December 18th at 10 a.m. at the WVU Coliseum. This will be West Virginia’s fourth straight game in Morgantown standing at an undefeated 9-0 record overall, while Wright State comes in at 6-4.
WVU is led by a dominant backcourt one-two punch that consists of red hot junior guard J.J Quinerly, who is coming off a career day in her last game against Delaware State. Quinerly is averaging 18.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.3 assist, and 3.1 steals per contest. Accompanying Quinerly in the backcourt is sophomore guard Jordan Harrison, who is continuing her strong season as well. Harrison is averaging 13.1 points, 4 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 2.9 steals per game in the early season.
Wright State is led by senior guard Alexis Hutchison, who despite a rough performance in her last game against Bowling Green, is still averaging 17 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, on 40.5 percent shooting. Hutchison is not the only senior performing well for the Raiders, as guard Layne Ferrell is averaging just under 12 points and 5 rebounds per contest.
West Virginia again is one of the top defensive teams in Women's college basketball as they are top 10 in points allowed, 3rd in forced turnovers, 2nd in steals, and 4th in turnover margin. This aggressive defense play style has provided easy transition points for the Mountaineers making opponent miscues their greatest offense.
Wright State started the year rough losing their season opener in close fashion, then fell to their first major conference opponent of the year in Michigan State. The Raiders would then win 5 straight in dominant fashion before losing two of their last three. Wright State is averaging 71.7 points a game which is fourth best in the Horizon, while West Virginia is averaging 81.1 points, being 5th best in the Big 12.
Both teams have strong offensive numbers to begin the season, but Wright State’s defense will need to step up to the task of handling the new and improved West Virginia offense. The Mountaineers are seeking to continue their hot start with a 10th straight victory. After Monday’s game the Mountaineers will stay at home to take on Niagara on Thursday, December 21st.
The Broadcast of Monday’s game can be heard on U92themoose.com, starting at 9:30 in the morning. Play-by-Play coverage will be by Joey Bray with Color Commentary by Quinn Robie. Pregame, Halftime, and Post Game will be hosted by Quinn Robie, with Joey Bray, and Gabe Schon.
Photo credits: WVU Athletics