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Four games into the season the college basketball season, you're going to see some sloppy play. The finished product is expected in March, not a few weeks into the year. The sloppiness was on full display in No. 24 West Virginia women's basketball’s game with Northwestern at The Greenbrier Friday night.
The Mountaineers shot 36% from the floor, but managed to survive a persistent Wildcats' squad and won 66-53. WVU stayed perfect on the season, moving to 4-0, while Northwestern fell to 1-3 on the year. WVU heads back home on Tuesday, Nov. 17, to host Akron at an early 10:30 a.m. tip for Education Day. That game will be on ESPN+.
"We didn't play great," head coach Mark Kellogg said via Gold and Blue Nation. "Some of that was that offensively we hadn't seen a defense like Northwestern had thrown at us... "I thought we got a little frustrated at times on the offensive end and that kind of carried over to the defense."
WVU was ahead the entire night, but it got dicey in the final minutes, with it being tied 51-51. Northwestern had a shot at taking the lead, but missed on a 3-pointer. With 4:18 left, the Mountaineers started to go on a run. WVU went on a 15-2 run, and quickly, the inaccurate shooting became five field goals to close the game.
Returning guard Gia Cooke had a big 3-pointer in the run, which gave the Mountaineers a seven-point lead with 2:16 to play. Cooke scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and led all scorers with 22 points. She was 2-for-4 from deep and shot 45% from the floor. Cooke surpassed 1,000 career points.
"I really liked our fourth quarter," Kellogg said. "I thought their response was good when we made the run. We showed some toughness defensively. Then made a few shots and made a few plays."
George Mason transfer Zahirah Walton took the brunt of the workload early in the game. She finished with 16 points. UCF transfer center Khyala Ngodu had 10 down low. WVU's leading scorer and Marquette transfer Skylar Forbes cooled off after a hot start. Forbes had just seven points on 3-for-14 shooting.
It was far from the Mountaineers’ best night. WVU's 36% was worst out of the first four games. The Mountaineers looked improved against Georgia Tech, but returned to struggling.
The only way WVU stayed in front was because of key turnovers at the end and throughout the game. Northwestern coughed the ball up four times in the last three minutes and 22 times over the course of the game. Walton had a team-high six steals. The Wildcats also didn't shoot great, going 40% from the floor. Northwestern guard Camdyn Nelson and guard Casey Harter combined for 22 points.
WVU also forced and made a lot of free throws, another sign of early-season basketball. The Mountaineers missed six of 26 free throws. Northwestern had multiple players in foul trouble, causing WVU's late surge. Guard Lily Carmody fouled out after she scored nine points.
"I think it was a physical game, but I think we made it harder on ourselves," Cooke said. "I think we were definitely the tougher team, I just think we needed to come out and act like it from the jump."
Neither team shot well from 3-point range. After shooting 40% against Georgia Tech, WVU shot a season-low 17.4% from deep, making just four shots, and Northwestern made just three. Cooke had the most with two.
WVU has one more game to iron out the kinks against Akron on Tuesday. After the Zips, the Mountaineers head down to the Bahamas to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis. WVU is slated to play Florida, who received top 25 votes, and No. 13 Notre Dame.
It won't be pretty if WVU plays as it did at The Greenbrier.
"That's okay," Kellogg said. "You find ways to win ugly. We'll have to play better. We'll have to continue to improve. But it's early, and this is what can happen. Proud we won, and we'll figure it out as we go."