No. 23 West Virginia women win 5th straight, rout UCF 84-43 behind JJ Quinerly's 26 points

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- — JJ Quinerly scored 16 of her 26 points in the first half and No. 23 West Virginia routed UCF 84-43 on Tuesday night for its fifth straight win.

Quinerly, who entered as the fourth-leading scorer in the Big 12 Conference, made 6 of 8 from the floor in the first half and finished 10-for-14 shooting overall with a pair of 3-pointers. Lauren Fields made three from long range and scored 15 for West Virginia (18-2, 7-2 Big 12). Jordan Harrison chipped in with 10 points and Kyah Watson grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points, three assists, three steals and a block.

Fields and Quinerly combined for 16 points to help West Virginia build an 18-4 advantage after the first quarter. The Mountaineers made 6 of 10 field goals in the opening period compared to UCF's 2-for-15 shooting. The Knights didn't fare much better in the second quarter, hitting 4 of 11 from the field and trailed 39-13 at the break.

The Mountaineers shot better than 50% in each half and outrebounded the Knights 35-22.

Kaitlin Peterson scored 13 points to lead UCF (10-9, 1-8).

The game marked the return of former West Virginia coach Mike Carey, who is now a UCF assistant. Carey stepped down in 2022 after 21 seasons. He guided the Mountaineers to 11 NCAA Tournaments and is the program’s all-time winningest coach with a 447-239 record.

------ Get alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ------ AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball