West Virginia guard Gia Cooke (3) is defended by Miami (Ohio) guard Nuria Jurjo (17) in the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/Kathleen Batten)

In front of what is expected to be a second consecutive sold-out Hope Coliseum, history will be on the line at 5 p.m. today for the 11th-ranked WVU women’s basketball team.

As the host and No. 4 seed, the Mountaineers (28-6) haven’t quite been in this position before, save but the 1991-92 season, the one and only time the WVU women’s program has advanced to the Sweet 16.

“We know what the bigger goal is; keep winning and advance,” is the way WVU point guard Jordan Harrison explained it.

To do it Monday requires a win against 16th-ranked and fifth-seeded Kentucky (24-10), a program with six visits to the Sweet 16, but none since 2016.

“You don’t want this to be the last one this early,” said Kentucky point guard Tonie Morgan, who had 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the Wildcats’ first-round win against James Madison on Saturday. “You want to keep playing, so you fight like hell every time and your teammates feel the same way.”

According to Las Vegas’ odds, the game expects to be a low-scoring affair with neither team expected to score any higher than the 60s. That sits just fine with WVU head coach Mark Kellogg, but he also knows how difficult it is to generate offense at this level.

It was just a year ago, at North Carolina, when the Mountaineers were held to just 24% shooting and scored 47 points in a second-round loss against the Tar Heels. Two seasons ago, WVU fell to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the second round after getting held to 54 points and 34% shooting.

“I think you’re just trying to find ways,” Kellogg said. “We’re going to try to help our group today and (Monday) leading up to it to find ways to get points. It certainly could be a defensive struggle.”

WVU put up 82 points against Miami (Ohio) in the first round and shot better than 50% from the floor and hit exactly half of its 3-point shots.

“I don’t think that can be the expectation again,” said WVU guard Sydney Shaw, who scored 19 points and added nine rebounds against the RedHawks. “You’re talking about two teams who really pride themselves on playing defense and take a lot of pride in that.

“It comes down to weathering the storms. We’ve had other games this season where our offense hit dry spells. It’s those moments when you find out what you’re made of. We’ve been a tough group who have learned to overcome those obstacles.”

While WVU is known for its full-court pressing defense, the Wildcats enter the game allowing just 60 points per game and are the leading shot-blocking team in the country.

“The way we play defense and the way Kentucky plays defense is totally different, but both defenses are really good,” Harrison said. “We want to be able to get after them and speed them up and use our quickness. Kentucky is going to sit back and defend and just make you take tough shots over them. They have the size, but we have the quickness. We’ll see what happens.”

To that defensive storyline, Kentucky, too, has to find a way to score some points. Wildcats’ head coach Kenny Brooks mentioned Sunday his team has faced other schools who supply full-court pressure, but nothing to the same degree West Virginia has shown.

“I watched the game (Saturday) and Miami of Ohio had 15 turnovers, but it felt like 35,” Brooks said. “The turnovers were loud and they make you take some quick shots sometimes. We just have to be on guard the whole game and we can’t let one turnover turn into two turnovers that turn into three that turn into a bad shot.

“It’s going to be two really good teams with contrasting styles. Who is going to will their way to win is just a matter of playing in March.”