West Virginia guard JJ Quinerly (right) dives down to complete a steal during a game against Pittsburgh on Tuesday in Morgantown. (Photo: Kevin Kinder, BlueGoldNews.com)

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia had more trouble outdoing itself than beating Pitt in the latest schedule renewal of the women’s basketball Backyard Brawl, turning up the heat on defense until the offense gave them an 82-54 victory in the fourth quarter. 3-0 start to the season.

The Mountaineers took advantage of Pitt losing one of its best players in the first minute of the game and then having its other best player, Khabija Faye, foul out in the third quarter, but the end result was defensive pressure from the nation’s No. 15 team. It is always valid that makes a difference.

The Mountaineers survived a night full of three-point shooting, committing 30 turnovers.

They all had to maintain their cover as they made only 2 of 21 3-pointers through the first three quarters of the game, most of them wide open, and they put the game away by scoring a couple of 26 points in the fourth quarter. .

“It wasn’t a very good flow, especially in the second quarter there were a lot of fouls and the game slowed down.” Coach Mark Kellogg said.

This took the Mountaineers out of the game and they had to attack the basket, scoring 42 points in the paint.

Normally when they score a lot of points in the paint it comes from fast breaks and steals, but although they were forced into these 30 turnovers, most of them were dead ball turnovers that only led to 34 points.

“We wanted to get to the rim. We wanted to attack the paint no matter what defense they were using,” he said. Kellogg said he faced a zone for most of the evening. “It was good to score 42 points in the paint and make 27 free throws because, frankly, we shot terrible from 3.”

Mountaineer star JJ Quinerly is truly disappointed after a slow start this year. He led the Mountaineers with 17 points, making 7 of 23 shots and 0 of 10 shooting from 3. He made 15 of 48 shots in the first three games, shooting 31.3%.

“I don’t think we’ll see this very often.” said Kellogg. “Maybe he took a little too much.”

Kellogg said the first three games are important for Texas A&M.

“To take back our identity. “We did that tonight against another Power 4 team that we haven’t done yet this year.” said Kellogg. “We just stayed with it and kept our cool. I thought he had gotten a little worn out lately, but that’s what we’re going to learn and talk about.’

The night couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for Pitt, who watched Kylee Blacksten take the Mountaineers’ first field goal while their own player, Amiya Jenkins, went down with a non-contact injury.

As you screamed in pain you quickly realized it wasn’t just an ankle or knee sprain. He remained on the floor for an extended period of time, had to be helped off the floor, and was carried to the locker room with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

Sometimes an injury like this can throw a soggy blanket over a performance, and both teams limped through a dismal first quarter filled with missed shots and turnovers.

When the buzzer rang, WVU was up just 12-9, with the Mountaineers shooting just 33% and Pitt shooting an even more dismal 27%.

The two teams combined for just 2 of 15 from 3-point range.

Quinerly continued his early season struggles. He scored 14 and 11 points in the team’s first two wins and made almost everything he put into the basket ring out.

However, there is always something going on with Quinerly, and it can be said that he saved the team from this fear with the first basket of the second quarter.

Determined to get started, he dribbled like a snake through the entire Pitt bench toward the basket for a layup that was a wake-up call for his teammates.

They wasted most of their turnovers while turning Pitt around, but still managed to take a 10 point lead to 28-18.

At this point, Quinerly picked up the pace with two free throws, a basket and another free throw, and WVU increased its halftime advantage to 35-25.

Quinerly was still searching for his shot and missed all 7 of his 3-pointers in the first half.

Whatever Kellogg told the Mountaineers at halftime — and you can be sure it wasn’t “nice job” — after giving up a quick basket, Quinerly and Jordan took it to heart, beating Harrison by six points in 42 seconds to extend the advantage to 41-27.

The best thing, other than how the third quarter ended, was how it ended with guard Sydney Woodley, a transfer from Long Beach, stealing Pitt’s final pass with 3.6 seconds left, driving to the basket and scoring. A foul was committed.

After making the free throw, WVU took its largest lead of the game, 56-41, despite only making 2 of 21 3-pointers, most of them open. Quinerly’s 3-point frustration went 0 for 10.

Jordan Harrison scored 14 points and Sydney Shaw scored 11 points for the Mountaineers, while 11 players scored points for the Mountaineers. Kellogg is using the preseason to determine his rotation and admits he doesn’t yet have a full grasp of what that rotation will be.

WVU now has seven straight wins against Pitt.