In its third ranked matchup of the season, No. 10 Texas women’s basketball dominated No. 24 West Virginia in a 70-49 win on the road.
Texas took control of the game from the start and never looked back, keeping the lead through the entire 40 minutes. Coming out of half time, the Longhorns went on a 7-0 run and kept the Mountaineers from scoring for four minutes into the third quarter.
Senior forward Taylor Jones made her return after missing four games, with eight points and three rebounds. Jones, who leads the Longhorns in rebounds and blocks this season, only practiced one day ahead of the game, according to head coach Vic Schaefer.
Texas’ season leader in points, freshman forward Madison Booker, finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. The freshman achieved the first double-double of her collegiate career. Graduate guard Shaylee Gonzales joined Booker at the 15 point mark.
Booker and Gonzales stepped up for injured junior guard Rori Harmon, who will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
“It’s a real unique situation, and you just have to have other people step up,” Schaefer said. “It’s not just one person. Maddie (Booker) would tell you, her teammates are helping her with the press and with the offense and everything else.”
Junior forward Aaliyah Moore was the third Longhorn to score in the double digits with 12 points.
West Virginia is known for its defense and ability to force turnovers, which it did against Texas throughout the game. The Mountaineers forced the Longhorns into 24 turnovers.
“(West Virginia is) really focused on defending and (they) do a great job covering for each other,” Schaefer said. “They are very aggressive. They play extremely hard, they’re well coached and, of course, they’ve got great guards.”
Junior guard JJ Quinerly dominated the scoreboard for West Virginia and had 22 points. Quinerly leads the Mountaineers with 261 points this season. She was joined in the double-digits by sophomore guard Jordan Harrison, who had 10 points and follows Quinerly as second in season points with 194.
The Longhorn’s next two games will also be against ranked teams, as Texas will return home to face No. 23 TCU on Jan. 10 and will hit the road again to face No. 11 Kansas State on Jan. 13.
