West Virginia guard Gia Cooke (3) dribbles the ball against McNeese State on Monday.

MORGANTOWN — The emergence of guard Gia Cooke continued Monday.

The Houston transfer, who actually began her career at Maryland, was not a starter for the West Virginia women’s basketball team to start the season. Ever since, Cooke has continued to develop into one of the Mountaineers’ most dependable scorers.

That was the case again during No. 21 WVU’s 83-63 victory against McNeese State, inside the Baha Mar Convention Center, in the opening round of the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, The Bahamas.

Cooke shot 6 of 9 from the field, went 10 of 13 from the foul line and scored 24 points. It was her fifth consecutive game in double figures for the Mountaineers, just one point off her career high set last season while at Houston.

In short, Cooke has been cooking.

Her string of offensive outbursts includes 12 points against Duke, in which she only played in the first half and was one of six WVU players ejected from that game for leaving the bench area during a shoving match.

In a full game, she also had 19 points last week against Appalachian State and added 16 against Temple earlier in the season.

She helped the Mountaineers get off to a 14-0 run against the Cowgirls (3-2) with a couple of jump shots.

McNeese State, which didn’t score a single point until 4:39 remaining in the first quarter, did not back down early. The Cowgirls nearly erased all of the deficit and trailed, 20-17, heading into the second quarter.

“It was a great start,” WVU head coach Mark Kellogg. “I loved the beginning of the first quarter. I hated the ending of the first quarter, which left a sour taste in our mouths. I would have liked to use that start to distance ourselves a little bit more. I felt comfortable with the lead, but we should have gone full-throttle on them.”

With the win, WVU (6-0) advanced to Wednesday’s 1:30 p.m. championship game against Ohio State. The Buckeyes defeated Belmont, 68-56, in the opening round. It’s the third consecutive season the Mountaineers have opened a season with at least six straight wins under Kellogg.

West Virginia has never beaten Ohio State (4-1) in 13 attempts, dating back to 1978.

If Cooke can keep scoring, that may be about to change.

She got herself to the foul line nine times in the first half with aggressive drives to the basket and also nailed a 3-pointer from the outside. Cooke had 15 points by halftime, when WVU had pushed its lead out to 41-28.

By that time, WVU forwards Kierra Wheeler and Jordan Thomas had begun to use their size advantage down low, as the Mountaineers finished with a 37-22 rebounding advantage.

The game also marked the return of point guard Jordan Harrison, who had to sit out last week’s game against Appalachian State due to her part in the tussle against Duke. Harrison passed the ball more against the Cowgirls than the senior shot it, finishing with 10 points and seven assists.

Wheeler picked up her first double-double at WVU (12 points, 10 rebounds) and the 35th double-double of her career, while Sydney Shaw added 14 points.

WVU tied a season high by shooting 56.3% (27 of 48) from the field and was 23 of 30 from the foul line. McNeese State attempted just six free throws and was whistled for 23 fouls.

Still, McNeese State’s 63 points were the most allowed this season by WVU.

“Offensively it was fine,” Kellogg said. “It was the defensive end. We pride ourselves on that end and we just gave up 63 against a team I thought we could hold a little bit under that. We got lost a couple of times on their threes, so we have to clean that up.”