IOWA CITY, Iowa — JJ Quinerly scored 29 points as West Virginia defeated Princeton, 63-53, in a women’s NCAA Tournament first-round game Saturday.
Quinerly, who was 10 of 19 from the field, scored West Virginia’s first 12 points of the fourth quarter as the eighth-seeded Mountaineers (25-7) pulled away from the No. 9 seed Tigers to advance to Monday’s Albany 2 Regional second-round game against No. 1 seed Iowa.
West Virginia ended Princeton’s five-game winning streak by rallying in the second half as its pressure defense disrupted the Tigers.
West Virginia led 42-35 early in the fourth quarter when Quinerly took over, hitting four field goals and going 4 of 4 in free throws over a 6 ½-minute stretch to keep Princeton from coming back.
Princeton (25-5), the Ivy League champion making its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, led the entire first half despite shooting 34.4% from the field. The Tigers had a 24-12 edge in rebounding, and Kaitlyn Chen had 11 of their points. Princeton led by as much as nine points, but West Virginia got to within 26-24 at halftime on Jordan Harrison’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
That seemed to give the Mountaineers a spark heading into halftime, which continued into the second half. West Virginia’s pressure defense began wearing down the Tigers, who had 10 turnovers in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the third quarter to help start a 13-0 run by the Mountaineers. West Virginia outscored Princeton, 18-7, in the quarter.
West Virginia shot 52.5% for the game, but 64.7% in the second half, including making 5 of their 6 shots in the fourth quarter. Princeton shot just 33% for the game, 30% in the second half.
Harrison had 15 points, and Kylee Blacksten had 10 points for the Mountaineers.
Madison St. Rose had 22 points to lead Princeton. Chen had 17.
Princeton had a 34-28 rebounding edge, with Ellie Mitchell getting 15 rebounds.
